CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In 2021, the Penn State Nittany Lions began the season with five straight impressive wins that included ones over Wisconsin, Auburn, Ball State, Villanova and Indiana.
That streak came to an abrupt end at then No. 3 Iowa when the Hawkeyes scored the final 13 points in the game and edged Penn State, 23-20, in Iowa City.
It was just one loss, though, and the Lions could have gotten back on track at home on Oct. 23 against 2-5 Illinois before having to travel to No. 5 Ohio State on the 30th.
Except that day against Illinois turned out to be the longest one of the season — in every sense of the word.
The Fighting Illini pulled off a stunning upset, 20-18, in what turned out to be the longest FBS football game in history.
The two teams went nine overtimes before Illinois scored on a 2-point try and walked away with one of its biggest wins in years.
Now, on Saturday in Week 3, it is time for Penn State to revisit Illinois, this time under vastly different circumstances except for one looming factor: PSU is favored again in an important Big Ten contest that it needs to win.
Illinois is 1-1 coming into the game after a 30-28 win over Toledo in Week 1 and a 34-23 loss on Sept. 8 at Kansas.
At Kansas, the Illini fell behind 28-7 at halftime and scored two touchdowns with 2-point conversions in the second half.
But Kansas was safely ahead, 34-7, with just 3:46 to play in the third quarter and was able to hold off the Illini for the victory.
Kansas rolled up 539 yards of offense, to 341 for the Illini, and ran an almost perfectly balanced offense.
Illinois was able to move the ball as quarterback Luke Altmyer completed 19 of 28 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions, and he also led the team in rushing, with 13 runs for a net of 70 yards and two touchdowns.
Reggie Love III gained 47 yards on eight carries, while Isiah Williams caught six passes for 99 yards.
Defensively, the Illini had few answers for Jayhawk quarterback Jalon Daniels’ 277 yards and two touchdowns along with two 100-yard rushers, Devin Neal and Daniel Hishaw.
On the other sideline, Penn State will enter the game 2-0 with wins over West Virginia, 38-15, and Delaware, 63-7.
Delaware at one point in the first half pulled to within 14-7 of the Lions after a 66-yard run by Marcus Yarns, but that was all the Hens would get.
By halftime, the score was 35-7 with three Nicholas Singleton touchdowns, another by Kaytron Allen and a pass from Drew Allar to Tyler Warren.
The second half was more of the same with the Penn State defense shutting out Delaware, and quarterback Beau Pribula leading PSU to three more touchdowns after taking over in the third quarter.
Allar had another solid game in his second start, completing 22 of 26 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown. The running game, with Singleton, Allen, Trey Potts and Pribula, also had an outstanding day with 326 total yards and six touchdowns.
“I just thought we were very efficient,” Penn State head coach James Franklin said. “We were able to stay on the field, we were able to sustain drives, we were able to convert on third down. We converted a few times on fourth down.
“The one thing is the penalties; and we’ve been pretty disciplined with that. I wasn’t happy with that (today). But besides that, I thought we played very efficient today on offense.
“Defensively, same thing, I thought we played really well. We had the one play where we were not gap sound. The ball found that gap, and they got some talented guys that can run, so just a really good example that everybody’s got to do their job on a consistent basis. If you’re supposed to be in a B gap, you have to be in the B gap. If you’re supposed to be in the C gap, you have to be in the C gap.
“But overall, obviously statistically, really good. I thought we were more consistent on special teams today. Our kickoffs, our few kick returns, we have some things that we have to get cleaned up. We didn’t have a whole lot of punt opportunities, but I think when we did that it was a 47-yard punt. So, there’s some stuff to build on.
“And then the last thing is we were able to play a ton of guys. We were able to get a bunch of guys experience, which is going to be important for us down the stretch, but we also were able to get a lot of our guys off the field as well.”
Allar, for his part, was happy with the PSU offense against Delaware, especially the balance between the pass and run.
“I think we’ve been really well balanced for the first few games and I think we take pride in that,” he said.
“There are times where we might have to run the ball and we have to sometimes throw the ball. I think we’re going to be able to do that well, so I think it’s just really taking advantage of what the defense is going to give us because the defense can’t take away everything on the field; that’s how football works.
“They’re always going to be giving up something, so we just have to be keen to what they are giving up and take advantage of that as much as possible.”
Illinois will be planning to put up another terrific defensive effort on Saturday and keep the game within reach deep into the fourth quarter, like it did in ’21. It worked against that team, and it remains to be seen how well it will work against the 2023 Lions.
For Penn State, this will be its first conference away challenge of the season, with more to come very quickly. All eyes will again be on Allar and the offense he directs in a hostile environment for the first time, as well as on the defense facing a truly dual-threat quarterback in Altmyer.
This will be a test on both sides of the ball for Penn State.
Kickoff is at noon in Champaign on Fox.
