{"id":426403,"date":"2024-12-01T19:26:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-01T19:26:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=426403"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-29T14:00:00","slug":"Aidan-Laughery-s-career-day-helps-No-23-Illinois-run-over-Northwestern","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/Aidan-Laughery-s-career-day-helps-No-23-Illinois-run-over-Northwestern\/","title":{"rendered":"Aidan Laughery’s career day helps No. 23 Illinois run over Northwestern"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aidan Laughery ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, to propel No. 23 Illinois past Northwestern 38-28 on Saturday at Wrigley Field in Chicago.<\/p>\n

The sophomore running back needed just 12 carries to orchestrate his career day and ripped off three runs of 30 or more yards, including a 64-yard touchdown scamper that put the Fighting Illini (9-3, 6-3 Big Ten) ahead 21-10 early in the second half.<\/p>\n

After the Wildcats (4-8, 2-7) pulled within 28-20 entering the fourth quarter, Laughery broke off a 31-yard run to replenish Illinois’ two-score lead.<\/p>\n

Fighting Illini receiver Pat Bryant tied a program record with his 10th touchdown reception this season, which came after Laughery’s long scoring run in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer completed 10 of 17 passes for 170 with a touchdown and two interceptions. He had an injury scare in the third quarter after taking a big hit and landing on his throwing arm. After receiving medical attention, Altmyer walked off the field but returned on the next drive.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats used two quarterbacks in the loss, their third straight to end the season.<\/p>\n

Jack Lausch played most of the snaps and threw for 287 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions on 25-of-48 passing. Before the game, head coach David Braun said freshman quarterback Ryan Boe would take snaps with the Wildcats out of bowl contention. Boe completed 4 of 13 throws for 42 yards with an interception.<\/p>\n

Northwestern’s defense created both Illinois interceptions with outstanding individual efforts.<\/p>\n

In the first quarter, Brendan Flakes tipped an Altmyer pass that Devin Turner caught and ran 13 yards for a touchdown that put the Wildcats ahead 10-7. The second pick also came from Turner, who sprinted across the field and timed a dive perfectly to grab an Altmyer pass in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Bryce Kirtz caught two passes on Northwestern’s first drive but was injured on his second reception. He exited the game with a lower-body injury and did not return. The Wildcats’ leading receiver this season finished with two receptions for 25 yards.<\/p>\n

–Field Level Media<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Nov 30, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini running back Aidan Laughery (21) runs for a touchdown against Northwestern Wildcats during the first half at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

-Matt Marton-Imagn Images
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Aidan Laughery ran for 172 yards and three touchdowns, both career highs, to propel No….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-426403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=426403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/426403\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=426403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=426403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=426403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}