No. 11 Illinois takes over after halftime to beat mistake-prone Duke 45-19 for road win

DURHAM, N.C. -- , Luke Altmyer threw for 296 yards and three touchdowns and No. 11 Illinois capitalized on a series of mistakes by Duke to beat the Blue Devils 45-19 on Saturday for a road win against a power-conference opponent. Kaden Feagin , Hank Beatty and Ca'Lil Valentine ran for scores, while Beatty also had a huge receiving day with eight catches for 128 yards for the Fighting Illini (2-0). Illinois led by just one at halftime but asserted itself from there and outscored Duke 31-6 in what turned into a dominating finish. “It was really cool to kind of have some hurdles to climb over in the first half,” Altmyer said, adding: “We know if we do the right things, we're a really good team.” The key, though was Illinois' opportunism in pouncing on every Duke mistake when the game was close , and boy, there were plenty.