Penn State defense rules the day, leads win over Illinois
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By Neil Rudel
nrudel@altoonamirror.com
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Offense and defense count equally, and fortunately for Penn State, its defense showed up big on Saturday to keep the Nittany Lions undefeated.
The Lions' defense forced five Illinois turnovers — four interceptions and one fumble — and helped the Nits eventually pull away for a 30-13 victory over Illinois before 49,099 at Memorial Stadium.
The seventh-ranked Lions, who improved to 3-0 on the season, held the Illini to 62 yards rushing.
Linebacker Abdul Carter, cornerbacks Daequan Hardy, Johnny Dixon and Cam Miller picked off passes, and linebacker Kobe King recovered an early fumble.
Drew Allar completed 16-of-33 passes for 208 yards and once again was not intercepted.
The Illini moved the ball early, mainly on the ground, but fumbled away their second possession, the Lions turned the mistake into a 3-0 lead.
Following another turnover, this one via Carter's interception, Alex Felkins drilled a 45-yard field goal to extend the Nits' lead to 6-0.
Penn State made it 13-0 on Kaytron Allen's 4-yard touchdown run with 11:04 left in the second quarter.
Illinois drew within 13-7 with some help from the Lions, who drove to the Illini 20 and faced third-and-2 — before receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith was hit with an unsportsmanlike (taunting) foul, costing PSU 15 yards.
That turned into a blocked field goal, and Illinois used the miscue to put together a 68-yard scoring drive and cut the lead to 13-7 when Reggie Love bulled his way into the end zone for a 5-yard TD with 2:08 remaining in the half.
Allar quickly moved the Lions into field-goal range, and Felkins' 28-yarder closed the half for a 16-7 lead.
Penn State forced two interceptions and two punts in the third quarter and by that time, the Lions' offense started to function and wore down Illinois.
Halfback Trey Potts threw an 11-yard touchdown to Tyler Warren, and Nick Singleton scored from 16 yards to extend the lead to 30-7 early in the fourth quarter.
The Lions meet No. 25 Iowa (3-0) in a prime-time matchup on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. CBS will televise.
Illinois (1-2) hosts Florida Atlantic next Saturday.
For a complete recap of the game, check out Penn State Extra in Monday's print edition.