Sydney Brown, Illinois Football News: Draft Scout Player News

11/26/22 - SS Sydney Brown, rSr/2023, Illinois

Safety Sydney Brown returned a touchdown and an interception for scores and Illinois snapped a three-game losing streak with a 41-3 rout of Northwestern on Saturday. Brown raced 53 yards for a touchdown after Northwestern quarterback Cole Freeman fumbled, then sprinted in for a 39-yard score off an interception, both in the third quarter. Illinois (8-4 overall, 5-4 Big Ten) entered with a chance to win the Big Ten West and advance to the conference championship for the first time. However, Purdue defeated Indiana 30-16 to win the division title and will play Michigan at Indianapolis next Saturday. Brown's twin brother, running back Chase Brown, punched in a 1-yard touchdown and finished with 61 yards on 19 carries. He entered leading the nation in yards rushing with 1,582 yards but fell short of Mikel Leshoure's single-season school record of 1,697 in 2010.

Tommy DeVito threw for 136 yards on 12-for-18 passing and ran for a touchdown, and Reggie Love III scored on 2-yard touchdown run to get the Illinois offense rolling. Caleb Griffin kicked a pair of field goals as the Illini finished with eight or more wins for the first time since the 2007 Rose Bowl team finished 9-4. The Illini have a winning conference record for the first time since 2007 when they went 6-2. The Illini handed Northwestern its 11th straight loss following a season-opening win over Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland. The Wildcats, 1-8 in the Big Ten, managed only Adam Stage's field goal. The Illini bounced back after a tough 19-17 loss at Michigan last week. Jake Moody made a 35-yard field goal for the Wolverines in that one with nine seconds left, handing Illinois its third straight loss after winning six straight. Illinois led 17-0 at the half on Love's 2-yard TD punch-in, Griffin's 23-yard field goal and De Vito's 1-yard keeper with 1:25 left. - Illinois/AP College Football

rSr/2023