Illinois Puts Away Cal in First Half

Antoineo Harris rushed for three touchdowns, and Brandon Lloyd caught eight passes for 178 yards and two touchdowns as Illinois scored 38 points in the first half of a 44-17 victory over California on Saturday.

. Kurt Kittner completed 18 of 34 passes for 297 yards, while Lloyd made a spectacular return to the Illini lineup after missing last season with a broken leg.

Illinois scored 24 points on its first four drives, three of which ended in scoring runs by Harris. After Cal got the first of Joe Igber’s two rushing touchdowns, Lloyd caught two scoring passes--on plays covering 49 and nine yards--in a 2-minute 29-second span shortly before halftime for a 38-7 lead.

Illinois Coach Ron Turner, a native of nearby Martinez, was pleased by the return of Lloyd, who was impressive as a freshman in 1999

“Brandon elevates the play of everyone around him,” Turner said. “We knew running against this team was going to be very difficult, we were fortunate to get one-on-one coverage [on Lloyd].”