Penn State football rolls past Illinois, 56-21, for a fourth consecutive victory
It appeared as if it’d be close at first, but the Penn State Nittany Lions pulled away soon enough, en route to a 56-21 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday evening in Beaver Stadium. This marks the Nittany Lions’ fourth consecutive victory after opening the season with a program-worst 0-5 start.
Penn State’s offense came out firing on all cylinders — the Nittany Lions scored on the very first play of the game on a 75-yard touchdown catch by junior receiver Jahan Dotson — but its defense couldn’t hold its own early on. The Fighting Illini put 21 points on the board by the 6:10 mark of the first quarter to take a seven-point lead. Then, Penn State began to put it all together — scoring four unanswered touchdowns to end the first half with a 21-point advantage. Redshirt junior quarterback Sean Clifford went into halftime 13-16 for 262 yards and two touchdowns.
The second half featured much less scoring from both teams, but the Nittany Lions put the game completely out of reach with two scores in the final two quarters.
Clifford finished 16-22 passing for 285 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, while adding 11 yards on the ground on nine carries.
Penn State ends the regular season at 4-5, while Illinois finishes 2020 at 2-6.
PLAYER OF THE GAME
WR Jahan Dotson: After his big performance in last week’s win over Michigan State, Dotson picked up right where he left off on Saturday evening.
The 5-foot-11, 182-pound Nazareth native opened the contest by taking a short catch from Clifford to the house for a 75-yard touchdown. Dotson had a couple other big plays in the opening half, too, including a 50-yard punt-return to start the second half and a 70-yard touchdown catch with 3:49 left in the second quarter.
By halftime, Dotson had 183 receiving yards — just 33 yards shy of tying the program record for most receiving yards in a game.
He couldn’t break the record, only adding six receiving yards in the second half. But Dotson’s performance still ranks sixth all-time for receiving yards in a single game for a Nittany Lion.
After being Penn State’s third receiving option in 2019, Dotson took quite the leap forward this season — which likely earned him millions if he decides to enter the NFL Draft this offseason instead of returning for his senior year.
PLAY OF THE GAME
WR Jahan Dotson’s 70-yard TD catch in the second quarter: After Penn State’s defense forced Illinois to go three-and-out with about four minutes left in the first half, Dotson helped pad the Nittany Lions’ lead before halftime.
On the first play of Penn State’s next drive, Clifford hit Dotson for a short catch near the right sideline, and — once again — Dotson did the rest. The junior receiver used a big block from redshirt sophomore offensive lineman Juice Scruggs before beating three Illinois players in a footrace to the end zone.
Dotson’s second-quarter touchdown was his third momentum-shifting play of the contest. (It came after his touchdown on the first play of the game and his 50-yard punt return at the start of the second quarter.)
His score gave the Nittany Lions a three-touchdown lead at the break and allowed them to take full control of the game.
BIGGEST SURPRISE
A Penn State rusher not eclipsing 100 yards: Illinois allowed Northwestern to rush for 411 yards in its loss last week. So, while Penn State had some success on the ground on Saturday evening — rushing for over 200 yards and four scores — it was a bit of a surprise that a Nittany Lions running back didn’t explode for a monster game.
Freshman running back Keyvone Lee led the way with 85 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, and freshman running back Caziah Holmes added 77 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
Instead of focusing on the run game, Penn State got it done through the air against the Fighting Illini. And that was a strategy that proved to be extremely effective.
UP NEXT
vs. TBD (maybe): With this win, Penn State — which ends its regular season with a 4-5 record — could earn a bowl bid. The NCAA waived bowl eligibility requirements in October because of the reduced number of games being played due to the coronavirus, so just one win shy of .500 could be enough for the Nittany Lions to play this postseason.
Head coach James Franklin told reporters Tuesday that he would have a discussion with his team Saturday night to gauge its interest in accepting a potential bowl bid. So now, fans will have to wait to see if Penn State plays for one final time in 2020.
This story was originally published December 19, 2020 at 9:01 PM.
