During its 4-0 start to the season, Illinois averaged 157 rushing yards per game. Against Penn State on Saturday, the Fighting Illini mustered just 34. Averaging 1.1 yards per rushing attempt, Illinois was forced to be one-dimensional as it looked to rally in the second half. That played right into the hands of the Penn State defense.  

“They rushed for 34 yards,” Penn State coach James Franklin said after his team’s 21-7 victory at Beaver Stadium. “And it’s not just 34 yards. That is a team that is committed to running the football, … and when you’re able to take somebody and force them out of the style of play that they want to play, then usually good things happen.”

With quarterback Luke Altmyer forced to throw it, Penn State’s pass rush went to town. The Nittany Lions racked up five of their seven sacks as part of a second-half shutout. Penn State held Illinois to just 59 total yards and four first downs in the second half, and the Illini ran only five offensive plays in the third quarter. Altmyer also threw his first interception of the season and lost a fumble, forced by Penn State defensive end Abdul Carter as the game’s exclamation point. 

“When we play at that level, we’re a top-two defense,” Penn State safety Jaylen Reed said. “There was great pride in me being a leader in that defense and us going out and playing like that.” 

A key turning point in the game was a second-quarter, 1st-and-goal situation for Illinois from the 2-yard line. On first down, a high snap led to a loss of 9 yards. On the next play, Altmyer lost 3 yards on a quarterback keeper. On third down, Altmyer was called for intentional grounding, and there was a false start on the next play. 

By fourth down, Illinois had a field-goal try from the 27-yard line, which kicker David Olano hooked wide. The play kept the game tied 7-7 and was the Fighting Illini’s last great scoring opportunity.  From that 1st-and-goal play, Illinois produced 39 yards of total offense the remainder of the game.

“On the goal line definitely is like a chip on our shoulder,” linebacker Kobe King said. “We don’t want anybody to run the ball, but if we’re on the goal line backed up, they can get in the end zone, so that’s how we carry and how we approach it every time.”

The last time Illinois came to Beaver Stadium, the result was much different. The Fighting Illini ran for 357 yards and upset Penn State in nine overtimes. King said the 2021 game stuck in the back of the Nittany Lions’ minds, and they wanted to make sure the same rushing dominance wouldn’t happen again. 

“The key was doing our job and upholding the standard as a defense,” King said. “We know what they did to us my freshman year in 2021, how many yards they ran on us. We didn’t want that to happen again.” 

That’s not to say things were perfect for Penn State’s defense. Penalties continued to be an issue, the team allowed its second opening-drive touchdown of the season and Illinois converted a 3rd-and-21. Franklin said the team would work on those issues, but overall he was very pleased with Saturday night’s victory. 

“I’m very proud of our defense and proud of Tom Allen and the defensive staff,” Franklin said. “When you hold people to seven points and 34 rushing yards against a Big Ten opponent, you give yourself a chance to win a lot of games.”

More Penn State Football

Final takeaways from Penn State’s win over Illinois

What they said after the Penn State-Illinois game

The Penn State report card: Illinois edition

Sam Woloson has covered Penn State Athletics for the past three years and is currently the managing editor of The Daily Collegian. His work has also appeared in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Huntingdon Daily News and Rivals. Follow him on X @sam_woloson

Illinois coach Bret Bielema still has his team’s back.

Even after the loss to No. 9 Penn State, Bielema remains confident in the group. The Illini lost 21-7 but had plenty chances to change the outcome.

“I felt on the plane ride coming over I thought we had a good football team,” Bielema said. “I just told them we feel about where we’re at but we can’t do the [bad] things.” 

Among the biggest disappointments was a drive that started with 1-and-goal at the 2 that ended with a missed field goal. Quarterback Luke Altmyer was also sacked six times and committed his first turnover of the season.

Still, BIelema shouldered some of the blame.

“For me as a head coach, it starts with me,” Bielema said. “We can’t do the things that cause us to fail … We can’t beat the No. 9 in the country with first and goal at the 2 and come away with zero points. It just doesn’t add up.” 

The Illini knew they were so close to continuing a strong start to the season.

They played well enough to win but blew too many opportunities. The fact they felt they could have won makes it more disappointing.

“We didn’t go enough to win the game, so obviously pissed off,” linebacker Dylan Rosiek said. “I think we got to go in there, look at ourselves going into this bye week and figure it out.” 

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Illinois Fighting Illini On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

Follow our updates on Facebook

X: @IlliniNowOnSI

Penn State coach James Franklin, who spent the pre-game week asking fans to bring “White Out energy” to Beaver Stadium, saw the results Saturday night. A crowd of 109,911 fans, overwhelmingly wearing white, impacted seven different plays in the Nittany Lions’ 21-7 victory over Illinois, Franklin said. From timeouts to a bad snap to four false-start penalties, the crowd made a difference. Even the Illini acknowledged that.

“It was a crazy atmosphere for sure,” Illinois tight end Tanner Arkin said. “I think that first kickoff, you can feel it in your chest almost. It was awesome and blessed to have the opportunity to play here, great atmosphere.”

Franklin’s postgame press conference centered mostly on the positive, though he did address some nagging issues from the victory. Here’s a look at what Franklin and Illinois coach Bret Bielema said after the game.

What we learned from Penn State’s win over Illinois

Penn State coach James Franklin

On the atmosphere: That was a phenomenal environment, that wasn’t even a white out, and we had that. The fans were phenomenal. We thought the fans had seven impactful plays on the game. Seven plays, whether it was timeouts, whether it was false starts and penalties, whether it was bad snaps, we thought they had seven plays that were significant in the game. We’re so thankful and appreciative for the fans and the environment we get here. It’s like nothing else in all of sports, let alone college football.

On the difference in the game: That game really played out for a long time the way Illinois wants the game to go. They want one-possession games. They want to keep it tight. Where I think it went different is, I challenged our offensive line against their defensive line. And I challenged our defensive line against their front, and I think that was the difference, really, in the game. We rushed for 239 yards. They rushed for 34 yards. And it’s not just 34 yards, that is a team that is committed to running the football. They are committed to running the football. And when you’re able to take somebody and force them out of the style of play that they want to play, then usually good things happen.

On rushing for 239 yards: I think the first thing with the offensive line and tight ends, they’re playing a

physical brand of football, and they’re doing a great job of protecting our quarterback. They’re allowing us to get ahead of the sticks. And the combination of our O-line being physical, and I don’t know if there’s a better combination of running backs in the country. There were physical runs out there today, so I just I couldn’t be more proud of that group and how they’re playing. That’s going to be important for us the rest of the year. But when you’re able to run the ball like that on offense and stop the run on defense, you know good things are going to happen for you. I don’t want to lose any doubt about that. And for running as often as we did, when you look at Kaytron Allen averaged 5.7 yards per carry, Nick Singleton, 5.9 yards per carry, Beau Pribula, 5.7 yards per carry. You’re stupid to get away from it right? So, Andy [Kotelnicki] was doing a great job calling the game, as you guys know, I’ll mix in every once in a while, just reminding him to stick with the run or time to take a shot. I’m down

there, I’m on the sideline. Sometimes with the play cards It’s good to kind of have these things to reinforce what he’s already doing. But that was the biggest reason. We’ve got to get better in the red zone. We weren’t as good in the red zone tonight. Again, got to give them a little credit, too.

On Illinois scoring on its opening drive: We’ve got to be better on opening drives. The looks you’re expecting to get that you can go down the field to be successful. That’s a week’s worth of preparation to open the game. Same thing on defense, we’ve got to break some tendencies that people aren’t as

comfortable going down and make them question their game and what they studied. But when you hold a Big Ten team to seven points, you have a chance to win a ton of games. I’m very proud of our defense and proud of Tom Allen and the defensive staff. When you hold people to 7 points and 34 rushing yards against a Big Ten opponent, you give yourself a chance to win a lot of games.

On kicker Sander Sahaydak missing two field goals: He’s been awesome for us, and we just

won that game, and he should be celebrating this thing like everybody else. But ultimately, we’ll have a competition and all these things will factor in decisions that we’re going to have to make moving forward. But I want Sander to celebrate this win like everybody else, because he’s put a ton into this. He’s a great kid and a great representative of Penn State.

Illinois coach Bret Bielema

On the game: Obviously disappointed in the results. I give credit to Penn State, an undefeated top-10 team, but our guys prepared well all week. They came in this game with the idea of being successful. Obviously we had a lot of success and did a lot of really good things. I felt on the plane ride coming over here that I had a really good football team. For me as a head coach, we can’t do the things that cause us to fail. We have got to give our guys more chances. I think we came out pretty clean. I stress all the time we learn more in moments of adversity than in moments of success.

On his team: I think we are a good football team. I like our demeanor. I like their work ethic. I like their

edge. They are very disappointed as I hope they’d be. We did enough things today to cause the failures that we had but I don’t see any of them being anything we can’t do correctly.

On his concern with the run game: We say it all the time, good teams do three things; they run the ball, defend the runs, and cover kicks. Obviously, this will be a recipe that others will follow and see and you know they have a good running game we knew that coming in.

On Penn State tight end Tyler Warren: Number 44, I just love him. One of the things I took from the [NFL] is, when a guy has a lot of position flex, which means he can do multiple things besides what he’s slotted into, I just think his skillset just allows a lot of other things to happen. James does a really good job at putting players in their position. I have a lot of respect for what he has done.

More Penn State Football

Penn State football report card: Illinois edition

The Penn State-Illinois game breakdown: Nittany Lions’ front lines take charge in win