Survive and advance. On to Cincinnati. Forget the 17.5-point spread. And, as James Franklin likes to say, “We’re going to celebrate wins around here.”
Ignore the two missed field goals by Sander Sahaydak, both from 40 yards — the first wide left and the second wide right — that have pushed his season stats to 2-of-5 and career numbers to 3-of-9.
Forget the half-dozen penalties and two more that were declined, including a pair in the game’s first seven plays, as well as the illegal block that negated the fourth-quarter pick-six by Penn State cornerback A.J. Harris.
As Queen acknowledged, “And bad mistakes, I’ve made a few.”
Bad? Yes. But those mistakes were not fatal for Penn State. Just, basically, annoying. For now.
As Franklin acknowledged last week, “I don’t like [penalties] at all, to be honest with you. You know, if you look at the analytics and the statistics, they don’t really have a significant impact when you talk about winning and losing. But as a head coach, it embarrasses me, because it shows a lack of discipline and it’s sloppy and it makes things harder than it needs to be.”
Harder, but not impossible.
Illinois may have been a 17.5-point underdog, but under Bret Beilema it was one of its strongest squads in years, if not decades. Before arriving in Happy Valley, the Illini were off to a 4-0 start for only the second time since 1951. And their 31-24 OT win at Nebraska last week was their first win as a ranked team over a ranked opponent since 2001.
So, make no mistake about it: Franklin’s ninth-ranked Nittany Lions will take their 21-7 victory over visiting No. 19 Illinois on Saturday night and move on. To 4-0, to next week against a woeful UCLA team that visits Beaver Stadium for a noon kickoff, to the next step in their quest to make the 12-team College Football Playoff.
After some quick film review on Sunday, Franklin & Co. will white out the memory of the close game, make a list of things “to clean up” and focus on going 1-0. Again.
It was the Nittany Lions’ fifth consecutive win at home against an opponent ranked in the Top 25 not named Michigan or Ohio State. The others:
2023 — No. 7 Penn State 31, No. 24 Iowa 0
2021 — No. 10 Penn State 28, No. 22 Auburn 20
2019 — No. 9 Penn State 34, No. 24 Indiana 27
2018 — No. 17 Penn State 30, No. Iowa 24
On Saturday, it was almost too close. The game was tied 7-7 at halftime, after it coulda, woulda, shoulda been a 14-7 Illini lead. In 51 seconds near the end of the second quarter, Illinois’ offense went from 1st-and-2 at the PSU 2 to 4th-and-27 at the PSU 27 — and then missed a 45-yard field goal.
As it was, Illinois jumped out to a 7-0 lead after its very first drive, as Illini QB Luke Altmyer completed 5 of 6 passes for 47 yards and a TD on an opening march that covered 75 yards in 11 plays.
But Illinois never scored again. The rest of the way, the Penn State D held the Illini to just 144 yards over the final 55 minutes, and held Altmyer — who threw for four TDs last week in that OT win at Nebraska — to 11 of 19 passing, with a PSU fourth-quarter pick by Harris that essentially sealed the win.
Safety Jaylen Reed had something to do with that, leading the Nittany Lions with nine tackles. And maybe even moreso, Abdul Carter. Although now a D-end, he saw time at linebacker, and Carter responded with seven tackles, three of them solo, with 1.5 sacks and 3.5 tackles for a loss. (Carter was also whistled for offsides twice, though one was declined.)
And, speaking of White Outs, the Beaver Stadium crowd was announced at 109,911. It was nearly all white and opportunistically loud, delivering the “White Out energy” that Franklin called for — even when it was not always warranted.
Though Penn State’s offense managed just 21 points — far below the 41.3 it averaged through a 3-0 start that included Kent State — it did establish that it could run the ball against a quality and quintessential Big Ten team. The Nittany Lions ran the ball 44 times for 239 yards, a 5.4-yard average, more than twice as many rushes as pass attempts (21). Both Kaytron Allen (102 yards on 18 carries, 1 TD ) and Nick Singleton (16-94-1 TD) had big games, and versatile tight end Tyler Warren chipped in with a pair of runs for 13 yards and a touchdown.
At one point in the third quarter, Penn State’s offense had 11 consecutive runs (and 12 on 13 plays) over two drives. But then, on fourth-and-3 at the Illinois 17 they passed — for just two yards to end the drive without a score (see “Sahaydak, Sander,” as noted in the second paragraph).
That was a pass from Drew Allar to Julian Fleming. Both finished with quiet stat lines: Allar was 15 of 21 passing for 135 yards, without a TD, and Fleming had two receptions for nine yards.
But Allar did not throw a pick and the Nittany Lions did not turn over the football. Now, those are mistakes that can cost a team. But not Saturday. And not Penn State.
