Illinois 42-23 UAB (Sep 3, 2026) Final Score

Team pages: UAB · Illinois

UAB0-123

Illinois1-042Final

Thu, Sep 3 · Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL), Champaign, Ill. · Crowd 52,673BTN

Illinois beat UAB 42-23.

We had Illinois favored. It won.

Next: UAB beat UL Monroe 26-20, Sat Sep 12

Next: Illinois lost to Duke 31-27, Sat Sep 12

Top comment in the game thread

Uh oh. The video board is not going to like being upstaged by a pick-6.

Q4 5:48 · r/CFB game thread · Thu, Sep 3

How it swung

Before kickoff, our ratings gave Illinois a 60% chance, and the closing betting line (Illinois was a 25.5-point favorite) put it at 98%.

Favored the whole way: Illinois never fell below 93%.

UAB never had better than a 6% chance.

Pick-six

Illinois · Q4 5:48

FinalIllinois 42-23 UABIllinois wonMove across the chart, or tap a numbered swing, to see any play.

No single play moved the chance by 20 points.

What fans said, play by play

The line in bold above each quote is written by our model from the thread’s comments and the play-by-play.

Q1 4:36Officials rule no DPI on Burton's deep pass to Smith despite fan outrageGuys the commentators are wrong, whether the ball was tipped has been reviewable on DPI plays for at least the last few yearsr/CFB game thread
Q4 5:48Kante returns interception 59 yards for touchdown, making it 42-16Quoted at the top of the page.

Illinois’s chance to win after every play.

How to read this chart

Starts from the pregame line (Illinois -25.5), at 96% for Illinois (the play-by-play feed's kickoff number, moved to match the line; our model's and the betting line's own numbers are in “The betting line, and the fans”). Dots are the biggest swings; ticks under the chart are scores. Outlined diamonds mark rare plays. Under the scores, r/CFB comments per minute from fans with a Illinois or UAB flair (505 and 118); both sides share one scale, regulation only. A gold diamond marks a play fans were reacting to.

Watch the plays

The bar and the arrow show Illinois’s chance to win after each play; the logo is the team the play helped.

Every drive

Illinois scored on 5 of its 8 drives; UAB on 5 of its 8.

Illinois’s drives are teal, UAB’s amber. A line runs from where a drive started to where it ended; a filled dot means it scored.

“Haha CFB is the best man”

A fan of another team

When fans got loud

Busy

Fans saved their loudest stretch for the second quarter.

Jump to the loudest stretch

The jump was busy; the crowd was steady.

Two crowds, one game

The words each side’s fans used far more than the other side, from the game thread.

UAB fans

dilfer“Gotta love the team carrying on Dilfer’s tradition of being the most penalized team in the country 🥹”

Box score

Illinois 42, UAB 23

UAB covered +25.5 by 6.5. The total, 65, went over 53.5.

Team totals	UAB	Illinois
Total yards	413	332
Passing	18 of 31, 219 yds	13 of 17, 182 yds
Rushing	48 for 194 yds	26 for 150 yds
First downs	24	17
Third down	10 of 19	3 of 6
Fourth down	3 of 4	1 of 2
Turnovers	1	0
Penalties	9 for 69 yds	1 for 4 yds
Time of possession	41:03	18:57

UAB leaders

Passing Ryder Burton 18 of 31, 219 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing Roderick Robinson II 14 for 59 yds; Braylon McReynolds 13 for 56 yds
Receiving C.J. Smith 2 for 57 yds; Tiaquelin Mims 4 for 52 yds

Illinois leaders

Passing Katin Houser 13 of 17, 182 yds, 3 TD
Rushing Ca'Lil Valentine 11 for 88 yds, 1 TD; Katin Houser 3 for 29 yds, 1 TD
Receiving Collin Dixon 6 for 70 yds, 2 TD; Ty Robinson 1 for 54 yds, 1 TD

No rain through the game

81° at kickoff · no rain recorded

September game-day temperatures at Memorial Stadium (Champaign, IL)

Drag along the chart, or step through the game.

First quarter, 14:52 left8:16 p.m.

UAB 0, Illinois 0 · Illinois 96% to win

no rain · 80°

Robinson 13-yd run

Where this weather comes from

Measured at Champaign - Willard airport, 5.1 miles away. Rain is NOAA's radar-and-gauge estimate at the stadium and wind is an airport reading; neither is measured on the field. Game times come from the play-by-play, good to a minute or two. Source: National Weather Service, through the Iowa Environmental Mesonet; rain radar from NOAA MRMS, through Iowa State University. Field direction from OpenStreetMap contributors.

Before kickoff

Recent games, the series and the betting line below are as they stood going in; the season profile is the season so far.

Recent games

Last three games · 2025 season

UAB · 4-8

Rated 55th in our preseason ratings.

W 31-24 @ Tulsa #147 of 667

won by 7 as a 9.5-point underdog

L 18-48 vs South FloridaTop 25 #23 of 667

lost by 30 as a 22.5-point underdog

L 24-53 vs North TexasTop 25 #39 of 667

lost by 29 as a 17.5-point underdog

L 17-24 @ Rice #165 of 667

lost by 7 as a 1.5-point underdog

L 19-38 @ UConn #70 of 667

lost by 19 as a 10.5-point underdog

W 31-24 vs MemphisTop 25 #41 of 667

won by 7 as a 23.5-point underdog

L 33-53 @ Florida Atlantic #94 of 667

lost by 20 as a 5.5-point underdog

L 13-31 vs Army #108 of 667

lost by 18 as a 6.5-point underdog

L 24-56 @ TennesseeTop 25 #10 of 667

lost by 32 as a 38.5-point underdog

W 31-28 vs Akron #162 of 667

won by 3 as a 13.5-point favorite

L 24-38 @ NavyTop 25 #95 of 667

lost by 14 as a 22.5-point underdog

W 52-42 vs Alabama State #144 of 667

won by 10 as a 21.5-point favorite

Last three games · 2025 season

Illinois · 9-4

Rated 70th in our preseason ratings.

W 30-28 vs TennesseeTop 25 #21 of 667

won by 2 as a 3-point underdog

W 20-13 vs Northwestern #64 of 667

won by 7 as a 7.5-point favorite

L 10-27 @ Wisconsin #64 of 667

lost by 17 as an 8.5-point favorite

W 24-6 vs Maryland #85 of 667

won by 18 as a 15.5-point favorite

W 35-13 vs Rutgers #84 of 667

won by 22 as a 12.5-point favorite

L 25-42 @ WashingtonTop 25 #20 of 667

lost by 17 as a 3.5-point underdog

L 16-34 vs Ohio StateTop 25 #1 of 667

lost by 18 as a 15.5-point underdog

W 43-27 @ Purdue #84 of 667

won by 16 as a 7.5-point favorite

W 34-32 vs USCTop 25 #16 of 667

won by 2 as a 6.5-point underdog

L 10-63 @ IndianaTop 25 #20 of 667

lost by 53 as a 7.5-point underdog

W 38-0 vs Western Michigan #137 of 667

won by 38 as a 27.5-point favorite

W 45-19 @ Duke #68 of 667

won by 26 as a 2.5-point favorite

W 52-3 vs Western Illinois #240 of 667

won by 49 as a 48.5-point favorite

Matchups

Biggest mismatch: Illinois’s success rate against UAB, 74 points

Each row ranks the two sides among all teams. The longer the line, the bigger the mismatch.

Illinois’s success rate against UAB’s defense
Illinois offense, 92nd percentile · UAB defense, 18th
Illinois’s rushing EPA against UAB’s defense
Illinois offense, 86th percentile · UAB defense, 27th
Illinois’s explosive plays against UAB’s defense
Illinois offense, 60th percentile · UAB defense, 95th

Season profile, all the rows

Season profile

UABIllinois

EPA/play, offense

EPA/play, defense

Success rate, offense

Success rate, defense

Explosive-play rate, offense

Explosive-play rate, defense

Rush EPA, offense

Rush EPA, defense

Pass EPA, offense

Pass EPA, defense

Line, fans and home field

The betting line, and the fans

UAB fans are in a better mood than Illinois fans (69th vs 36th among FBS fanbases), even with Illinois favored.

Illinois favored by 25.5 · Total 53.5

How games like this usually go

Illinois by 25.5: the game against the usual path

Half of games8 in 10 gamesThis game

The band is where a favorite’s chance ran in the 411 games since 2025 with a favorite of 21.5 points or more.

The market

The spread moved 2 points toward UAB.

The books’ cut: 3.5%, the margin built into the odds

Home field

Illinois is worth +3.1 points (±4.1) more at home than on the road since 2018 — bottom third of FBS, 31st percentile.

52% at home, 44% on the road against FBS opponents (26-24 home, 18-23 away).

Our model gives every stadium the same flat 2.3-point home edge (why); the books use about 3. Against the closing line this stadium reads -3.0 at home vs. away over 95 games — inside the ±6.6 noise, so the flat number is the honest one here.

Night kickoff — historically worth about half a point more to the home side against the number, and not much more than that. The visitors travel about 461 miles to get here.

Illinois beats UAB 42-23