One Question Mailbag: Ranking Catches

I got a text from my friend Erik (the keeper of The Stats) yesterday asking where the Collin Dixon catch might rank among all great Illini catches. I started to make a list in response to him and then I realized that it just needed to be a 1QM.

First, his text to me (including the catches he suggested):

Can we talk where Dixon’s catch ranks all time?  Feels like it’s gotta be top 3 with Lloyd Wisconsin 01 and Jimmy Klein Michigan 93. Harvey Michigan 99 and Bryant Rutgers up there as well.

Bryant also had the OT grab against Purdue two years ago as well.

For impressiveness of the catch alone, Franklin had a couple two years ago. Michael Dean had a one handed TD grab at Indiana in 99 that made plays of the week. Also Lloyd had the on his back TD catch at OSU in 99.

Could also go all the way back to Shawn Wax at USC in 89 and Mike Bellamy Indiana in 88.

We then discussed how there are really two categories: impressive catches and game-winning catches. The Pat Bryant touchdown at Rutgers is up there because of the situation (4th and 13 at the Rutgers 40 with 14 seconds left) but not specifically the "catch." And then there's "OH MY GOD" catches like Shawn Wax in 1989 which weren't game-winning and weren't "how did he catch that?" but need to be on the list (Wax caught a deflected pass intended for someone else and took it to the house in a game where that late-in-the-fourth-quarter touchdown and the Steven Williams touchdown four minutes later led to a 14-13 win over #5 USC).

The first three recent catches that popped into my head (and Erik mentioned the Franklin one) are all in a folder of gifs I keep on my laptop:

-> Mikey Dudek reaching backwards above his head against Iowa in 2014 (the TV shot that showed just how far he reached back for it was better but I can't find it right now):

-> Zakhari Franklin against Michigan State in 2024 (also in the same corner of the same endzone as the Dixon catch and the Dudek catch):

-> Hudson Clement last year against Rutgers:

But none of these were the same game situation as Dixon's catch. Great concentration on all three but they didn't ice away a win over Oregon at home.

As far as won-the-game catches (and many of these were mentioned by Erik in the text), that list includes:

• Pat Bryant at Rutgers in 2024 (and in overtime against Purdue at home the same season, and at Nebraska in overtime the same season...)
• Isaiah Williams from John Paddock to win over Indiana in overtime (2023).
• Casey Washington at Penn State in the 9th overtime in 2021 (five years ago last Friday, if you can believe it).
• Daniel Barker at Michigan State in 2019 (great route to stop and let the DB fly by, but the catch was just him standing there so no style points).
• Sam Mays from Jeff George Jr. to beat Michigan State in 2016.
• Geronimo Allison against Nebraska in 2015 (after three PI penalties on basically the same play).

(A big gap exists here where I can't remember a single game-winning catch.)

• Dustin Ward to Greg Lewis in overtime to beat Purdue in 2002.
• Rocky Harvey catch and run (and dive) at Michigan in 1999.
• Scott Weaver to Jason Dulick in the second overtime to beat Indiana in 1996 (in the first overtime game in Big Ten history).
• The aforementioned Johnny Johnson to Jimmy Klein touchdown with 34 seconds remaining to beat Michigan in the Big House in 1993.
• Jeff George to Mike Bellamy against Indiana in 1988 (Bellamy wrestled away a 50-50 ball in the endzone with 26 seconds left to beat #20 Indiana).
• Tony Eason to Tim Brewster at Wisconsin in 1982 (it set up the game winning field goal from Mike Bass with 3 seconds left - this was after Wisconsin had scored the go-ahead touchdown with 52 seconds left on the famous "bounce pass" play).

And then there's probably the most famous catch in Illini history - Brandon Lloyd against Wisconsin in 2001. Let's watch it again:

Over the years, that catch is remembered as a last second catch, as if it happened with five seconds left or something. That wasn't the case. There were more than six minutes left in the game. It still won the game – we broke the tie with that TD, Wisconsin went three-and-out and punted, and we ran out the clock with a long drive – but it wasn't a last second catch.

I suspect that in ten years, this Collin Dixon catch will be remembered in a similar way. We'll remember it as winning the game, not just putting the game out of reach by making it a two score game. We'll probably remember it like it was with ten seconds left, not with 2:29 left.

And that, to me, provides our answer already. It puts this catch up there with Lloyd's catch. Had Lloyd not gotten his toe down, we would have kicked a field goal and, had we made it, only had a three point lead (which means Wisconsin plays out the rest of the game differently). And had Dixon not caught this pass on Saturday, well, let's just talk that out.

• It was 3rd and 7 so we would have kicked the field goal had the pass fallen incomplete. If we made it, we'd be up 7; if we missed it, we'd be up 4.
• Remember that Oregon then drove to the Illinois 28 where they attempted a field goal on third down. They did this because the book says to kick the field goal once you're in FG range because you need two scores and it's best to get the first score as quickly as possible so you can go attempt the onsides kick. They missed the field goal, making everything else moot.
• Playing this out (if Dixon didn't catch the ball), Oregon would have only been down 7 (or 4) so they wouldn't have kicked that field goal. They would have only needed 28 more yards in 52 seconds to either tie the game or take the lead.

So yeah, in terms of "what it meant in the game", this one is right up there with Lloyd. Fantastic catch AND put away a solid opponent in Memorial Stadium.

Which means I think I'm ready to list my top five. I'm handing out points for both "incredible catch" and "what it meant in the game" for my overall score here. I really wanted to put Rocky Harvey at Michigan in 1999 on this list, but that was a dump-down pass that was more about the run (and the dive) than the "catch." So here are my top five Illini receptions in my lifetime:

5. (three-way tie for the same player) Pat Bryant winning THREE GAMES in 2024 on the final Illini play. His catch at Rutgers is the most memorable, obviously, and that's what puts him on this list, but he also had the game winning catch against Purdue in overtime and the game winning catch (yet another one-play overtime drive) at Nebraska in OT. Three games, two in OT, and the same guy wins all three games with a touchdown catch. You can easily make the argument that if Pat Bryant had picked Arkansas (and their WR coach at the time, Justin Stepp) instead of Illinois, we'd have had 7 wins in 2024 instead of 10.

4. Johnny Johnson to Jimmy Klein at Michigan in 1993. It is the football memory from my years as a student. It's the game where I left my friend's apartment and then performed a Paul Revere ride across campus, telling anyone within earshot that we just beat Michigan. Somehow, little Jimmy Klein found an open spot in the Michigan endzone and Johnny Johnson hit him with 34 seconds left as a Michigan linebacker was hanging on to Johnny's left foot. I can still see the Mikki Johnson sideline celebration which was the immediate next shot on the broadcast.

3. Mike Bellamy against Indiana in 1988. I looked up the details so I could get this exactly right. And it wasn't too far off from the way the Oregon game played out (had Oregon somehow come back and won after Dixon's catch). Indiana, 6-1-1 at the time and ranked 20th, scored on an interception return with 3:33 left in the game to take an 11 point lead, 20-9. A lot of Illini fans left.

Jeff George engineered a quick drive and hit Shawn Wax for a touchdown with 2:09 left to make it 21-16 (two point conversion failed). Indiana's quarterback then fumbles on the second play of their next drive and Illinois takes over at the IU 31. George drives us to the five and then hits Mike Bellamy on a fade route – a 50-50 ball that Bellamy ripped away from the Indiana DB – to win the game with 26 seconds left. Two touchdowns in the final 2:09, the last one a crowd-pop catch.

2. Collin Dixon against Oregon in 2026. I don't think I need to describe it, do I? I don't. Just go watch it again:

1. Brandon Lloyd against Wisconsin in 2001. The gold standard. Needed it to win the Big Ten (which was our last conference title, by the way). And with how that game was playing out, it's the most "it's all slipping away!" followed by "our hero saved us!" Illini football moment of my lifetime.

The part everyone forgets: We led 25-7 late in the third quarter and we were cruising. The game was over. And then Wisconsin scored four touchdowns in 6 minutes and 46 seconds (with only an Illini field goal in between) and suddenly it's 35-28 Wisconsin. Just imagine if Twitter existed in that moment. Wisconsin scores, we follow up with a field goal to make it 28-14, and then...

• Wisconsin's Jim Sorgi hits Lee Evans for a touchdown with 14:10 left in the game and it's 28-21. The crowd is restless.
• Kurt Kittner is picked off on the second play of the ensuring drive and Wisconsin takes over at our 29.
• Two plays after that, Wisconsin ties the game (only 40 seconds after they had cut it to 28-21).
• On the ensuing kickoff, Christian Morton fumbles. Wisconsin recovers at the Illini 18.
• Two plays after that, Wisconsin scores again (another pass from Sorgi to Evans). Now it's 35-28 Wisconsin.

It was as "WHAT IS HAPPENING??" as any game in my lifetime. 14:15 left in the game, 28-14 Illinois. A minute and a half later, (12:45 left in the game), 35-28 Wisconsin. There had to be fans getting a hot dog who didn't believe the scoreboard when they returned to their seat.

And then our hero saved us.

First, Mike Hall (in for the had-just-fumbled Christian Morton) returns the kickoff to midfield. Kurt Kittner immediately finds Lloyd on a 35 yard pass down to the 15 and then hits Brian Hodges to tie the game on the next play. The defense holds Wisconsin to a three-and-out (a sack by Jeff Ruffin and Brandon Moore on third down pushed them into 4th and 21) and the Illini got the ball back. Kittner again drove the offense down the field but the drive began to stall at the 24. On third and 11 from the Wisconsin 24 with 6:24 on the clock in a tie game...

The Illini defense got another three-and-out, Wisconsin punted with 4:30 left (hoping to get the ball back one more time), but the Illini offense picked up four first downs – one of them yet another Kittner-to-Lloyd connection – and we ran out the clock. Illini win, disaster averted, Big Ten title still on track, #21 ranking in the next poll (on our way to #7), BCS bowl here we come.

That's still #1 for me. A "how did he get his toe down?" game-winning catch to keep our conference title hopes alive and (eventually) bring a Big Ten trophy to Champaign. And a crowd pop like you wouldn't believe from a shellshocked Memorial Stadium that had just seen Wisconsin turn 14-28 into 35-28 in 85 seconds. It's the greatest catch in Illini history.

But Collin Dixon is now #2.

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