College Football
Game recap Penn State beats Illinois
On Friday, Penn State opened up Big Ten conference play against the Illinois Fighting Illini. Just like any other Big Ten contest, it was a slug fest to start out. No game in the Big Ten is an easy win and this was no exception as Penn State beats Illinois.
Penn State
The Nittany Lions came to play this week for sure. Penn State won 63-24 in Illinois. However, this time around, Trace McSorley wasn’t the star of the game (even though he did factor in). Offensively, Miles Sanders had himself his best collegiate game of his career thus far. Sanders rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns which helped propel Penn State to victory.
In the second half, Penn State put up 42 unanswered points. Besides Sanders, freshman running back Ricky Slade rushed for 97 yards and a touchdown on ten attempts. Fellow running back, sophomore Journey Brown, also had a touchdown on the night in his only rushing attempt which netted him ten yards. McSorley had 94 additional rushing yards on top of his twelve completed passes for 160 yards and three touchdowns. Though McSorley did manage to throw one pick.
Receiving wise, Juwan Johnson, K.J Hamler and Pat Freiermuth all collected a touchdown apiece. Defensively, Jonathan Sutherland finished with eight total tackles, six solo and two assisted. Garrett Taylor had seven tackles; six were solo while one was assisted. Ellis Brooks, Micah Parsons and Jan Johnson all had six tackles apiece.
Illinois
For the first half, the Fighting Illini made it a game. In the first quarter, both Penn State and Illinois scored a touchdown apiece. In the second quarter, Penn State scored a second touchdown before Illinois got a field goal. On the night, M.J Rivers completed 17 of his 28 passes for 149 yards and one interception, along with a touchdown and one sack.
Receiving wise, Carmoni Green led the way with four receptions for 49 yards but did not record a touchdown. Likewise, Ricky Smalling had two receptions for 23 yards and the only two touchdowns (receiving wise) for the Fighting Illini on the night.
Rushing for Illinois came as a plus as Reggie Corbin gained 96 yards on 11 carries for the only rushing touchdown on the night for the Fighting Illini.
Conclusion
Penn State was battled tested on the road for a good portion of the game. The Fighting Illini didn’t let the game go early and really brought it to Penn State. Once the second half came, Penn State took off. In the fourth quarter alone, the Nittany Lions scored 35 unanswered points which pretty much sealed the deal as Penn State beats Illinois. Up next for No. 9 Penn State is the most anticipated match up of the season with a prime time, 7:30 nationally televised on ABC, white out game against the current No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes.
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Photo credit to Bin Bug via Flickr
