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
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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.
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Penn State coach James Franklin greets supporters and recruits following a 21-7 win over Illinois. / Dan Rainville / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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
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The Penn State-Illinois game breakdown: Nittany Lions’ front lines take charge in win
SPRINGFIELD — After closing out a lame-duck legislative session tainted by internal strife, Illinois Democrats heralded a fresh start Wednesday as the latest class of the Illinois General Assembly enters a daunting budget season and prepares for the second presidency of Donald Trump.
“We meet here this afternoon at a critical moment in the history of our state and our country, and as the elected leaders from our communities, we have some difficult things to do in the days and months ahead,” Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch said at his chamber’s inauguration ceremony at the University of Illinois-Springfield.
“Trying to build connection, compassion and community in a time fraught with division and discord — these are challenges created and exacerbated by many factors beyond our control,” Welch said, nodding toward a second Trump administration at odds with Illinois’ supermajority Democratic Party. “The people who sent you here, who gave us this moment, expect us to move forward as one.”
But the Hillside Democrat’s caucus saw discord of its own in a lame-duck session confrontation that enraged Gov. JB Pritzker.
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Several House Democrats shouted down Pritzker agency heads during a Monday caucus meeting over a controversial hemp regulation bill, in a heated encounter that ended with at least one staffer in tears and one of Pritzker’s top legislative priorities tanked.
The governor’s office criticized Welch for allowing the berating to happen, while Pritzker publicly slammed Welch for not calling a floor vote for the bill that would have effectively banned most sales of hemp-derived THC products like delta-8.
Pritzker demanded apologies to his staff, and on Wednesday he said “a little of that has happened,” while downplaying the possibility of any bad blood transitioning to the new legislative session as lawmakers grapple with an estimated $3 billion budget deficit.
“Every day is a new day to do the right thing,” Pritzker told reporters after presiding over the Illinois Senate’s inauguration. “People can make mistakes, and certainly mistakes were made and behavior was improper during that caucus. But people can make amends and we can all get along.”
Senate President Don Harmon preached a similar message of unity as he was sworn in for a third full term at the helm of the upper chamber. He advised his colleagues to “treat your neighbors well, stay humble [and] be kind.”
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Illinois Senate President walks to his chamber’s rostrum during the Senate inauguration on Wednesday.
Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times
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“Your seatmates, the members of your caucus, are your neighbors in the Senate. Your time here will be much more pleasant if you are good to them,” Harmon said inside a newly renovated chamber. “The Senate is an active laboratory for coalition building. Forge those bonds and look out for one another.”
Neither leader, nor Pritzker, went far into specifics on their legislative agendas heading into the spring session. While lawmakers ended the previous General Assembly without advancing legislation intended to preempt policies from the incoming Trump administration, “we’re all going to have to be on guard for what the impact of that will be in the state of Illinois,” Pritzker said.
He suggested Trump tariff policies and potential Medicaid cuts could exacerbate the state’s looming budget deficit.
“We don’t know what they’re going to do,” Pritzker said. “We know that we have a gap that we need to fill or that we need to manage in order to have a balanced budget, and I’m confident that we will do that. But it is true that there’s some unpredictable results that may come from Washington.”
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Gov. JB Pritzker presides over the Illinois Senate inauguration on Wednesday.
Mitchell Armentrout/Sun-Times
The governor has until the end of May to hammer out a budget with lawmakers. He’ll deliver his initial proposal next month.
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Other legislators floated their priorities for the upcoming session, including South Side state Rep. Kam Buckner, D-Chicago, who highlighted the need for a broad transit funding reform bill to avert a fiscal cliff; and Rep. Bob Morgan, D-Deerfield, who wants to add safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence in health care.
Republicans, who remain relegated to superminority status in Springfield, voiced frustration with the Democrats’ iron grip on the State Capitol.
“Illinois is a great place to live, and Illinois has always been a state of possibilities, but one-party control has stifled that success,” said House Minority Leader Tony McCombie. Republicans have been outnumbered in the House since 1994, and the Senate since 2000.
“I, like many, was disappointed with our election outcomes, and the ability for us to secure more Republican seats to bring some balance to the General Assembly,” McCombie said. “However, this was not due to a lack of good candidates or hard work, but due to special interests and Illinois’s gerrymandered maps, the most outrageous maps in the nation.”
With over $600 million raised in campaign contributions across all political campaigns in 2024, neither party had much to show for their time and money. The state House and Senate saw no party gain or lose a seat, as Democrats held onto their bicameral supermajority for four straight elections.
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Republican Senate Minority Leader John Curran offered a cooperative hand in his chamber, praising Harmon “for making the table more open to the minority party. I look forward to that continued inclusion in the upcoming session.”
Illinois senators returned to their Capitol chamber for the first time in two and a half years Wednesday following renovations.
Respiratory illness levels in Illinois have risen from moderate to high, according to the state’s health department, but what does that mean for masking and what should you know?
While several hospitals and health systems in the Chicago area have started implementing mask recommendations, there is no specific statewide mandate.
Still, the Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday urged healthcare facilities to “consider targeted steps to mitigate the circulation of seasonal illnesses,” including measures like masking, amid an “early winter jump in hospital admissions.”
“The New Year has arrived, and Illinois is experiencing the expected winter surge in seasonal respiratory illnesses,” IDPH Director Dr. Sameer Vohra said in a statement. “It is now more important than ever to use the many tools at our disposal to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe.”
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Vohra urged vaccinations for the viruses spreading most across the state — flu, COVID and RSV — but noted that “other effective tools to prevent exposure to respiratory illnesses include enhanced ventilation, good hand hygiene, and a well-fitting mask.”
He reminded those with symptoms of a respiratory illness — such as fever, runny nose, sore throat or cough — should isolate to avoid spreading germs, or wear a well-fitting mask if they are unable to isolate.
Already this winter virus season, Illinois has recorded four pediatric deaths due to flu, COVID-19 and RSV, the health department reported.
In December, multiple Illinois health systems implemented full or partial mask mandates due to the continuing uptick in respiratory infections across the state.
Rush University Medical Center, in a note on its website, said visitors and staff must wear hospital-approved masks in some areas, citing increased levels of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses, such as the flu and RSV.
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“Effective Dec. 2, 2024, Rush is requiring patients and visitors to wear hospital-approved masks when they are in clinical offices, waiting areas and patient registration,” the hospital stated. “The policy coincides with the respiratory virus season, when the spread of flu, RSV and COVID-19 rises.”
The above requirement took effect at all of the health system’s hospitals – Rush University Medical Center, Rush Copley Medical Center and Rush Oak Park Hospital. OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, meanwhile, will begin requiring masks on Tuesday due to “widespread respiratory illnesses,” including COVID-19, influenza and RSV. In addition, the hospital is implementing a temporary restriction of only two visitors – 18 years old and above – per patient.
Other area health systems, such as Endeavor Health, required masks for visitors and patients experiencing respiratory symptoms, citing ongoing virus transmission, according to its website. University of Chicago Medicine, meanwhile, mandated staff members members wear masks for “all patient care and patient facing activities,” according to a spokesman.
OSF St. Francis Medical Center said it was recommending both patients and visitors wear masks in its hospitals, hospice home and clinic. The healthcare group also said it would temporarily limit hospital and hospice home visitors to two adults per patient at a time, with certain exceptions.
The uptick in Illinois follows surges in flu and whooping cough cases across much of the country.
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Dr. Whitney Lyn, a family medicine physician with Cook County Health, said the hospital admission rate typically picks up a week after the holidays, but this year, hospitals are already “bursting at the seams.”
For those who contract an illness, there are effective anti-viral treatments available for COVID-19 and the flu, but they must be started quickly. Even with the nation experiencing a rise in illnesses and the holidays winding down, doctors insist it’s not too late to get vaccinated.
Lyn said it’s “really, really important” to consider getting vaccines to decrease your chances of becoming seriously ill.
“But what’s really the important thing about it is [the] majority of these viruses that we are seeing do have vaccines that can either lessen the symptoms or don’t have the symptoms at all,” she stated. “The more people that we really get vaccinated for the flu, RSV, COVID, those are the things that are really going to decrease the transmission from person to person and not have your whole household sick.”
While it takes about two weeks for vaccinations to provide their full level of protection, getting shots now will offer protection through the cold and flu season that lasts into the spring.
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Anyone experiencing common respiratory symptoms – such as a cough, sneezing or a fever – should wear a mask anytime they are around others, doctors assert.
“…If you’re having that cough, that sneezing, please wear a mask because you don’t know what you have,” Lyn said. “And if, you know, you have elderly people that you’re around or people who are immunocompromised that have chronic diseases or even children, those things can actually make things worse for them.”
Penn State Nittany Lions (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (11-3, 3-1 Big Ten)
Champaign, Illinois; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Fighting Illini -9.5; over/under is 163.5
BOTTOM LINE: Penn State takes on No. 13 Illinois after Nick Kern scored 21 points in Penn State’s 77-71 loss to the Indiana Hoosiers.
The Fighting Illini are 7-1 in home games. Illinois is second in the Big Ten scoring 87.6 points while shooting 46.1% from the field.
The Nittany Lions are 2-2 against Big Ten opponents. Penn State is ninth in the Big Ten giving up 68.5 points while holding opponents to 42.6% shooting.
Illinois makes 46.1% of its shots from the field this season, which is 3.5 percentage points higher than Penn State has allowed to its opponents (42.6%). Penn State averages 7.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.2 more made shots on average than the 6.1 per game Illinois allows.
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The matchup Wednesday is the first meeting this season for the two teams in conference play.
TOP PERFORMERS: Kasparas Jakucionis is shooting 49.6% and averaging 16.4 points for the Fighting Illini.
Adrian Baldwin Jr. is scoring 14.8 points per game with 2.9 rebounds and 8.4 assists for the Nittany Lions.
LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 8-2, averaging 87.2 points, 41.2 rebounds, 15.0 assists, 5.2 steals and 4.1 blocks per game while shooting 46.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.2 points per game.
Nittany Lions: 7-3, averaging 81.1 points, 31.9 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 7.7 steals and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 48.8% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 69.3 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
