What happened
Malik Turner. Geronimo Allison. Wes Lunt. The trio carved their name in Illini lore with clutch performances in the waning seconds. Then Taylor Zalewski booted through the extra point, sending Illini fans home happy. For the first time in a Big Ten opener since 2011.
What it means
Big-time moments. Big-time chances to move the program towards national relevancy. The Illini took a step towards clamoring back into that conversation with a memorable fourth quarter. One that should overlook the first three quarters by the time the work week starts again on Monday.