Illinois Overwhelmed By Penn State Defense In 39-0 Loss
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Wes Lunt had been relatively comfortable in the pocket all season. Until Saturday when he spent the final moments of Illinois' 39-0 loss at Penn State in some physical and mental discomfort on the sideline.
The Illinois quarterback was sacked three times and hit a bunch as the Fighting Illini offense sputtered against a suffocating Penn State defense. He was relieved by Chayce Crouch to start the fourth quarter with the game out of reach.
"It was just an overall bad, bad day," Illinois coach Bill Cubit said. "Our kids, they just looked tired."
Penn State's offense started fast while Illinois (4-4, 1-3 Big Ten) never got started. The Illini punted on 12 of 15 possessions, Lunt was intercepted once and the offense turned the ball over on downs twice.
Christian Hackenberg threw for 266 yards and two first-quarter touchdowns and caught a scoring pass from Nick Scott. Saquon Barkley and Mark Allen scored touchdown runs. Tyler Davis added two field goals for the Nittany Lions (7-2, 4-1).
Hackenberg's touchdown passes came just over a minute apart. He capped an eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 5-yard throw over the middle to Chris Godwin. Linebacker Troy Reeder plucked a Lunt pass off over the middle and returned it to the Illinois 6 on the ensuing Illini possession. A play later, Hackenberg hit Lewis who went over Eaton Spence and came down with the ball near the corner of the end zone to give Penn State a 12-0 lead.
Davis relieved Joey Julius — who had two extra points blocked and sailed a kickoff out of bounds — and hit a 42-yard field goal to give Penn State a 15-0 halftime lead.
When it looked like Illinois would get something going, the offense fell apart with heavy pressure on Lunt. After Taylor Barton recovered a DeAndre Thompkins fumble on the first play of the second half, Lunt moved the Illini across the 50 with a 13-yard pass to Dionte Taylor. But Penn State's front seven forced three consecutive hurried throws to force a punt.
"We got in a lot of third-and-longs," Lunt said. "They were getting a rush with two, three guys, which hurt us."
Illinois converted just 6 of 20 third downs and managed just 167 yards of offense. The Illini also committed eight penalties for 60 yards — four of which occurring on first or second down to force more long third downs.
"They just dominated us," Illinois coach Bill Cubit said. "They dominated every phase."
Penn State's offense had been explosive in small stretches to this point but an inability to protect Hackenberg and run the ball led to overall inconsistency. Against Illinois, Penn State's interior linemen gave Hackenberg plenty of room to step up, avoid outside pressure and fire down the field.
They also gave Scott time to run right, pause and find Hackenberg running alone down the far sideline for a 14-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter.
Meanwhile, the Illini couldn't stop Barkley, who finished with 142 all-purpose yards and leapt over an Illinois defender and ran through two more to finish his 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. It gave Penn State a 32-0 lead.
Penn State kept its pressure going when Crouch entered the game. The Illini backup was sacked on fourth-and-9 near midfield to end any chance Illinois had to break the shutout.
"We can't let one game define us," guard Ted Karras said. "We have a good schedule left in the Big Ten. We go to Purdue next week and we gotta win. That's how you move forward."
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