It will go down in history as an absolute heartbreak for Rutgers and a miracle for Illinois.

Rutgers did everything it could to put itself in position to pull off a comeback for the ages. Then Illinois eviscerated everything.

What was supposed to be a special farewell for seniors who jumped on board to rebuild Rutgers will instead be remembered as yet another “what if” game in a long history of staggering Rutgers defeats. Instead of sending those seniors off in a big way, they will have a final sense of devastation for their swan song at SHI Stadium.

Illinois quarterback Luke Altmeyer threw a slash to Pat Bryant, who weaved his way through the Rutgers defense for the winning touchdown with 14 seconds left to set up a miraculous ending as Illinois earned a 38-31 victory, leaving Rutgers lagged behind.

The game-winning touchdown came after Rutgers called a timeout to ice the kicker and the attempt came 15 yards short of the goal post. Instead of sending Ethan Moczulski back for the winning kick, Illinois sent Altmeyer and company back outside, completing the miraculous finish and cementing a thriller.

Illinois put together the game-winning drive after Rutgers rallied to regain the lead with 1:08 left on a 13-yard catch and run by senior Kyle Monangai. Monangai’s touchdown came after quarterback Athan Kalikamanis extended the scoring drive with a do-or-die, 15-yard scramble on 4th-and-10 and the Illinois 40-yard line.

That go-ahead goal should have put Rutgers ahead for good, but Illinois found a way.

Observations

Monangai’s swan song says it all

Kyle Monangai put himself in exclusive territory early in the second quarter with a four-yard run, surpassing the 3,000-yard mark for his career. It was a signature moment for the senior tailback, who arrived as an unknown recruit and transformed into the hard-working physical embodiment of Rutgers’ resurgence over the past three seasons.

On a day when Rutgers celebrated a slew of milestones, the career achievement for the face of the program said a lot.

When Rutgers needed a key drive in the second half, Rutgers turned to Monangai, who scored seven times for 49 yards on the 14-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a tush-push score from Kaliakmanis and an extra point from Jai Patel, who put Rutgers up 24-15 with 14:51 to play.

Monangai joined Ray Rice and Terrell Willis as the program’s only players to reach 3,000 yards. Rice finished with 4,926 yards from 2005 to 2007, while Willis covered 3,114 yards from 1993 to 1995.

What happened at the bottom of the pile?

A fight came out of the locker room, but it was nothing compared to the fight at the bottom of the pile between Monangai and Illinois linebacker Gabe Jacas

The official decision was a fumble by Jacas, but there was certainly a lot of jostling. When the players separated, Jacas and Monangai were still fighting with a shared position. That was after it looked like Kaliakmanis fell first on his own fumble, but lost the ball in the melee.

With the turnover, Illinois needed eight plays to find the end zone and get the momentum back in its favor. Josh McCray ran in a four-yard touchdown, but the Illini two-point conversion was off the mark, making the score 17-16 in favor of Rutgers with 6:41 left in the third quarter.

Try it twice

How much confidence does Rutgers have in sophomore Ian Strong? Look at the last seconds of the first half for your answer.

Rutgers had two shots to put the ball in the end zone and went to the second receiver on back-to-back attempts. The first fell incomplete after a break by Jaheim Clark. On the next play, Kaliakmanis threw the same ball back to Strong, who grabbed it and made the best play of the half.

The 2-yard touchdown catch capped a 16-play drive that went 75 yards and took five minutes, 36 seconds off the clock and marked the eighth time Strong was targeted alone in the first half.

Sanctions plague the first quarter

What would this game script have looked like with more disciplined play? Rutgers and Illinois couldn’t get out of the way in the first quarter as the penalty flags started piling up.

Rutgers was flagged twice on special teams, while Illinois had more penalties in one quarter than averaged over all four quarters, and had seven penalties in the first quarter alone.

The Illinois offense drew five flags, killing both of its first two possessions, but the biggest blunder came courtesy of Rutgers.

After a personal foul by Illinois junior Josh McCray knocked the Illini out of field goal range, a special teams penalty by Rutgers and a block in the back by Illinois set up a re-kick scenario. With a second chance, Hank Beatty broke free for a 59-yard return to put Illinois at the Rutgers 10-yard line.

The accumulation of penalties was not typical for either team. Rutgers ranked 11th nationally in penalties per game (4.4). Illinois, meanwhile, checked in at 16th (4.7).

Bonus coverage

— All three of Rutgers’ drives that resulted in touchdowns reached double-digit plays.

Rutgers used a 10-play, 75-yard drive to take a 10-3 lead with 9:20 left in the second quarter. It was the eleventh time this season that Rutgers used at least ten plays to find the end zone. This time, quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis capped the drive with a 12-yard scramble.

The Scarlet Knights then elevated themselves on their next possession, going 75 yards in 16 plays and scoring on a 2-yard pass from Kaliakmanis to Strong on the final offensive play of the first half. In the second half, Rutgers used a 14-play drive to go 75 yards and punched in a 1-yard touchdown run by Kaliakmanis from the tush-push formation.

-There were 33 seniors honored for Senior Day. Instead of an on-field ceremony, Rutgers had its seniors walk the Scarlet Walk with their family members when they arrived at SHI Stadium.

Injury updates

A position already decimated by injuries suffered another blow. After starting the last two games at tight end, Logan Blake suffered a season-ending injury last week at Maryland and true freshman Matthew Ogunniyi was a pregame scratch. That left redshirt sophomore Mike Higgins as the only scholarship available on Saturday.

The line

Rutgers opened Sunday as a one-point favorite. The line continued to move in Rutgers’ favor before settling at -2 or -2 1/2, depending on the sportsbook. The over-under total was between 46 1/2 and 48.