PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Trailing by one at the 40-yard line with 14 seconds to play and no timeouts, Illinois coach Bret Bielema sent in a play known as ''church'' to Luke Altmyer.
The quarterback was to hit a receiver who was to go to the ground immediately. The offense would rush to the line of scrimmage and Altmyer would spike the ball to set up a potential winning field goal.
Pat Bryant caught the pass at the 22 and then called his own split-second audible. Seeing a path to the end zone, the star receiver ran across the field on the way to the winning touchdown with 4 seconds left, sending the Illini to a wild 38-31 victory over Rutgers on Saturday.
''Coach called a perfect play," Bryant said. "A play we run all the time in our two-minute drill. I caught the ball and saw the sideline and saw nobody was over there. I had one guy to beat. I gave him a little move. I heard everybody jump and say 'Get out, get out,' but I put trust in myself and scored a touchdown.''
Bryant's ninth TD reception of the season capped a roller-coaster finish to a Big Ten game that featured three lead changes in the final 3:07.
Illinois (8-3, 5-3) was down 31-30 when it sent long kicker Ethan Moczulski out for a desperation 58-yard field goal. Rutgers coach Greg Schiano called for a timeout right before Moczulski's attempt was wide left and about 15 yards short.
After the missed field goal was waved off by the timeout, Bielema sent his offense back on the field.
''Pat is so aware of his surroundings," Bielema said after Bryant finished with seven catches for a career-high 197 yards. ''He saw that corner and took off.''