STATE COLLEGE – Penn State football coach James Franklin asked the fans for White Out energy Saturday night at Beaver Stadium.
The sellout crowd of 109,911 delivered, and so did running backs Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton and a swarming defense .
No. 9 Penn State opened Big Ten play with a hard-fought 21-7 victory over No. 19 Illinois.
The Nittany Lions (1-0, 4-0) finally put away the gritty Illini after cornerback A.J. Harris intercepted Luke Altmyer’s pass in Illinois territory. Harris sprinted into the end zone, but it was wiped out when Zion Tracy was penalized for blocking in the back.
Allen capped the eight–play drive from the Illinois 41 with a 5-yard burst through the middle with 1:55 to go. He finished with 18 carries for 102 yards.
Nick Singleton, Allen’s backfield mate, carried 16 times for 94 yards and a third-quarter TD when he took a handoff from tight end Tyler Warren. He also caught two passes for 25 yards and returned a kickoff for 20 yards.
Penn State quarterback Drew Allar completed 15-of-21 passes for 135 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
After allowing Illinois (1-1, 4-1) to mount a 75-yard TD drive on its first possession, the Penn State defense stiffened. The Lions did not allow the Illini to cross midfield in the second half until the final minute.
AbduL Carter put an exclamation point on the win when he sacked Altmyer in the final seconds.
Penn State could have won by a larger margin, but Sander Sahaydak missed two 40-yard field goal tries, one in the second quarter and one in the fourth quarter. The Lions passed up another try, went for it on fourth down and were stopped.
Penn State took the second-half kickoff and drove 74 yards for the go-ahead touchdown. The Lions converted three times on third down, the first a 9-yard completion to Singleton, who ran over a defender. Illinois was called for defensive holding on the second third down.
Then from the 4, Warren took the snap and handed it to Singleton, who ran unscathed for the score.
Illinois struck first, using 11 plays on its opening drive to go 75 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead. Altmyer found Zakhari Franklin for 13 yards and then for 18 yards. A personal foul penalty on Amin Vanover gave the Illini a first down at the Penn State 14.
Moments later, Altmyer lobbed a 4-yard pass to tight end Carson Goda, who was alone in the right corner of the end zone.
Penn State answered immediately, putting together its own 75-yard touchdown drive to tie it.
Allar threw a dart to Harrison Wallace III over the middle for 20 yards and scrambled for another 11 yards. Singleton ripped off a 14-yard run before catching a 16-yard pass in the flat for a first down at the 8. Warren finished it by taking a direct snap and diving into the end zone from the 3.
After forcing a punt, Penn State drove from its 4 to the 42. But on fourth-and-1, Franklin decided to punt.
The Lions stopped Illinois near midfield and mounted a drive from their 8. They ran it seven times on the first eight plays and had a first down at the Illinois 27. Incompletions on second down and third down forced a field goal try.
Sahaydak hit a 40-yard try wide to the left and the score stayed tied.
Illinois turned around and had first-and-goal from the 2 with the help of missed tackles and an unnecessary roughness penalty. But the Illini went backwards from there with a high snap over the head of Altmyer, a tackle for loss by Hakeem Beamon, an intentional grounding penalty and a false start call.
David Olano then missed a 45-yard field goal with 44 seconds left in the half.
Penn State outgained Illinois 193-160 but was locked in a tie at the break.
