Illinois Beats UAB 42-23 Despite Getting Outgained
UAB outgained Illinois 413 yards to 333, ran 48 times to Illinois's 25, and lost by 19. That is the sort of box score that makes you check which column is which. The Illini (1-0) beat the Blazers (0-1) 42-23 by making their yards count, and by getting a defensive score at exactly the right moment.
Illinois scored first and never trailed. Katin Houser hit Collin Dixon from 18 yards for a 7-0 lead, and Ca'Lil Valentine ripped off a 51-yard run in the first quarter to make it 14-3. UAB's Jonah Delange kicked two field goals and Ryder Burton threw a 10-yard score to Roderick Robinson II with 18 seconds left in the half, pulling the Blazers within 14-13. Illinois needed one play to respond. Houser found Ty Robinson for 54 yards on the final play of the half, and it was 21-13 at the break.
Dixon's 14-yard catch early in the third made it 28-13, and after a Delange field goal the lead sat at 28-16 going into the fourth. Houser ran in from six yards to make it 35-16, and then Ismael Kante returned an interception 59 yards for a touchdown with 5:48 left, which made it 42-16. Take away the pick-six and it is a 35-16 game, still comfortable, but it is the play that turned a lead into a lock. Burton's five-yard run with nine seconds left only made the final look closer.
Houser finished 13 of 17 for 182 yards and three touchdowns, plus a rushing score, and Illinois gave the ball away zero times. Burton went 18 of 31 for 219 yards with one touchdown and the one interception.
For fantasy, Houser's 34.2 Promethium points led all comers, Dixon had 25 on two touchdown catches, and Burton had 24.6 for the losing side on a rushing score and some yardage.