Buoyed by Katin Houser’s 54-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to end the first half, Illinois gradually pulled away for a 42-23 season-opening victory over UAB on Thursday in Champaign, Ill.
Houser completed 13 of 17 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns and scrambled for a score in his Illini debut as Bret Bielema improved to 6-0 in openers at Illinois (1-0). Collin Dixon caught six passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns while Ca’Lil Valentine ran for 11 times for 88 yards and a score.
Ryder Burton hit 18 of 32 passes for 219 yards and accounted for two scores for UAB (0-1), which opened against a Football Bowl Subdivision foe for the first time since 2014. The Blazers never led despite outgaining the Illini 413-332 and controlling the ball for 41:03.
Houser needed just three snaps to record his first touchdown pass as an Illini player. After Mac Resetich returned a punt 65 yards to UAB’s 30, Houser capitalized on a busted coverage to lob an 18-yard toss to Dixon for a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
UAB responded with Jonah Delange’s 26-yard field goal set up by Burton’s 42-yard bomb to Purdue transfer CJ Smith.
Illinois again needed just three plays to rack up a touchdown on its second drive. Valentine took a handoff, waited for his linemen to clear a path up the middle and sprinted 51 yards for a 14-3 lead with 1:18 left in the first.
UAB again drove inside Illinois’ 5 midway through the second quarter but settled for a 23-yard Delange field goal to cut its deficit to 14-6 with 5:50 left in the half.
The Blazers’ third trip into the red zone paid off as Burton rifled a 10-yard strike to Rod Robinson II to make it 14-13 with 18 seconds to go in the half.
Illinois was not content to jog into the locker room. With four seconds left, Houser sent three receivers into the middle of the end zone versus seven defenders as the Blazers declined to rush the passer. Houser lofted a deep ball that went off two sets of UAB hands before Ty Robinson clutched it for a 54-yard score that gave Illinois a 21-13 edge at the break.
Houser capped the first drive of the second half by threading a 14-yard touchdown pass to Dixon for a 28-13 lead. After Delange’s third field goal, a 35-yarder late in the third quarter, Houser scrambled 6 yards for a touchdown to push the margin to 35-16 with 12:25 to go.
Illinois clinched matters with 5:48 left when linebacker Ismael Kante picked off a two-handed push pass from a harried Burton on fourth down and returned it 59 yards for a score.
Burton ran for a consolation 5-yard TD in the final seconds.