Pat Bryant wasn’t where he was supposed to be on the biggest play of his life. Only he was exactly where he was supposed to be.

Down 31-30 to Rutgers on a fourth-and-13 from the 40-yard-line, Bryant trotted out from Illinois’ sideline with 14 seconds left. He was supposed to line up in the slot. But he looked back at receivers coach Justin Stepp. Stepp looked back at him.

“You want me to go outside?” Bryant said, reading Stepp’s thoughts before he even opened his mouth.

And so Bryant toed the line at the top of the Fighting Illini’s formation on the left side, breaking off the move that’d been his favorite since his Pop Warner days in Florida: 10-yard dig. Or, in this case, 15-yard dig. A route of little fuss. A route that doesn’t require burners or a superhuman vertical. A route tha

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