Nathan Scheelhaase had a 2-yard rushing touchdown with 13 seconds left as No. 22 Illinois completed an 18-point second-half comeback to defeat Northwestern 38-35 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

A.J. Jenkins finished with a school-record 268 yards receiving and three touchdowns for Illinois, which outgained Northwestern 473-332.

Illinois (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) had taken a three-point lead on Donovonn Young’s 1-yard touchdown run with 6:53 left, but Northwestern, after recovering a fumble near midfield, responded on Jason Schmidt’s 6-yard touchdown run with 1:15 left to put the Wildcats up 35-31.

With a chance for a go-ahead score, the Illini took over at its own 31-yard line and moved 69 yards on six plays to set up the winning touchdown.

The victory was the third for Illinois against its cross-town rivals in the last nine meetings, which includes last year’s 48-27 win. The Wildcats, who were without senior quarterback Dan Persa in last year’s meeting, lost him once again to injury late in this one.

Persa suffered a leg injury early in the fourth quarter, but not before throwing for a career-high four touchdown passes for the Wildcats (2-2, 0-1 Big Ten).

Illinois won its Big Ten opener for the first time since 2007 when the Illini beat Indiana 27-14.

Northwestern led 14-10 at the half.