On perhaps the biggest college football Saturday of the 2025 season, we didn’t have to wait long for a significant upset.
No. 23 Illinois defeated No. 21 USC 34-32 in Champaign on Saturday afternoon. Illinois was ahead of much of the game before the Trojans took the lead late in fourth quarter. However, Luke Altmyer was able to guide the team on a game-winning field goal drive to secure the win.
Here’s a clip of the game-winning kick from David Olano:
Although USC was only ranked 2 spots higher, this is a pretty significant upset. Illinois was a 6.5-point underdog to the Trojans in the betting markets for much of the week.
For Illinois, this is a nice bounce-back win following its blowout loss to Indiana in Week 5. As for the Trojans, this is USC’s first loss of the season, but a continuation of the road struggles the program has had under Lincoln Riley. Since moving to the Big Ten, USC is just 2-5 in conference road games.
This is a result that could have significant consequences for the College Football Playoff picture later in the season.
Spenser is a news editor for Saturday Down South and covers college football across all Saturday Football brands.
