Final: Illinois 21, Oregon 10

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois scored 21 unanswered points to beat Oregon 21-10 Saturday, Oct. 24, in a loss that could knock the Ducks (now 4-3, 2-2 in Big Ten play) out of College Football Playoff consideration.

Ducks correspondent Tyson Alger will have more from the game later Saturday.

3:08 p.m.: Fireworks in Champaign, as Illinois celebrates a 21-10 victory over the Ducks.

3:06 p.m.: Illinois has to punt, but Oregon is out of time outs with 27 seconds left.

3:01 p.m.: An Oregon drive ends with a missed field goal from 46 yards out. With 52 seconds to play, Oregon is down 21-10.

2:55 p.m.: Two minutes to go. Oregon is driving with a couple of completions between Raiola and Jamari Johnson.

2:48 p.m.: Clayton connects with Collin Dixon for an incredible TD catch. An official review confirms the call, and Illinois leads 21-10 with 2:29 to play.

2:42 p.m.: It’s 14-10 Illinois here with 6:04 to play. The Ducks just missed a 52-yard field goal attempt, giving Illinois the ball here on their own 34. I’m heading down to the field. Check in after the game for the full story.

2:33 p.m.: The Ducks will start their next drive at their 19-yard line; had the interception stood, the drive would have started at the 36. About 10 minutes remain in the game.

2:32 p.m.: What appears to be a Peyton Woodyard interception is ruled an incomplete pass. But Illinois will have to punt, and the Ducks will have the ball, trailing 14-10.

End of third quarter: Illinois 14, Oregon 10

3rd quarter

2:14 p.m.: An update on that last fun fact: Ettridge is only six punts shy of Ferguson-Reynolds now, as Oregon punts on its final drive of the third quarter.

Illinois leads 14-10.

2:11 p.m.: Fun fact: Oregon punter Bailey Ettridge only needs seven more punts to equal the total of Oregon’s 2025 punter, James Ferguson-Reynolds. Ettridge has four punts today, bringing his season total to 29, and 17 punts over the last 10 quarters.

1:55 p.m.: A sledgehammer of a second-half opening drive for Illinois, who go 70 yards on nine plays to take a 14-10 lead. All of Illinois’ yardage game on the ground — except for Clayton’s 12-yard go-ahead touchdown pass to Christian Abney.

End of 1st half: Oregon 10, Illinois 7

Stats:

1:12 p.m.: It took little time for Illinois to capitalize. After Oregon’s field goal, the Illini took the first play of their ensuing drive 75 yards to the end zone for the score. After 14 seconds of game clock following Oregon’s field goal, it’s now UO 10, UI 7.

1:08 p.m.: Interesting moment here. The Ducks had fourth-and-goal from the 2, initially showed that they were going to go for it, but after a timeout elected to kick. It’s good. Oregon leads 10-0 with 2:29 to go in the first half.

12:55 p.m.: Have yourself a day, Teitum Tuioti. The Oregon senior linebacker just picked up his third sack of the afternoon as the Ducks force yet another Illinois punt.

12:47 p.m.: The Ducks can’t take advantage of the turnover. Oregon’s drive stalls at the 34-yard line, and Gage Hurych’s 51-yard attempt misses.

End of first quarter: Oregon 7, Illinois 0

12:39 p.m.: Oregon’s defense answers right back, strip-sacking Clayton on Illinois first play of its drive. Ducks take over at midfield.

12:38 p.m.: Oregon’s offensive woes have finally caught up to them: on third down in his own territory, Raiola drops back, gets swarmed, fumbles and Illinois recovers. UI gets the ball on their own 27.

12:35 p.m.: Three drives and three punts for Illinois. Teitum Tuioti picked up a sack there on second down.

12:32 p.m.: Another nothing drive for the Ducks. Since their 75-yard opening drive, Oregon has generated 13 yards of offense over its last two drives.

12:27 p.m.: Another midfield stop for the Ducks, who force Illinois second punt in as many drives. UI freshman quarterback Michael Clayton II has looked OK so far — Oregon’s generating solid pressure and the QB is doing a good job of stepping up to make throws. Just not all of them have been accurate.

12:20 p.m.: Oregon’s second drive looked a bit more like what we’ve seen as of late. Ducks go three-and-out, with Raiola facing pressure on third-and-2 and nearly throwing a pick under pressure.

12:15 p.m.: These first seven minutes couldn’t have gone any better for Oregon. Following the offense’s score, the Ducks defense came out and, after allowing one first down, forced Illinois to punt. The Ducks will take over on their own 28 with 8:02 to play in the quarter, leading 7-0.

12:07 p.m.: It’s been a bit since we’ve seen Oregon’s offense take care of business on its first drive of the game like this. With Dylan Raiola starting the game at quarterback, the Ducks picked up one big gain — a 25-yard completion to Dakorien Moore, sprung free by a key Jordon Davison block — covered on a third and long and eventually found the end zone when Davison punched it through from 2-yards out. 

That’s 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:43 off the clock and a 7-0 lead for the Ducks. 

Pre-game:

Noon: Dylan Raiola will start at quarterback for Oregon this afternoon.

11:30 a.m.: Well, this one will be an adventure for Oregon, who will be playing here on the road without four of their top-five wide receivers.

We knew Evan Stewart and Jeremiah McClellan would miss the game, but the Ducks are also without receivers Messiah Hampton and Jalent Lott.

Here’s the full availability report: