PSU Recap: Illinois

Saturday night's game against Illinois was electric, both on the field and in the stands. Since the '05 Ohio State game, night games at Beaver Stadium have become legendary, and the Illinois game was no exception. After a slowish start, the Nittany Lions dismantled the Illini 38-24, and have climbed to #6 in the polls, which is both exciting and nerve-wracking. At any rate, PSU passed the test Saturday night against some big-time Illinois talent, especially on offense. It was a great win, and a great statement in front of a national audience. It only gets tougher from here, however.

Here's a more detailed breakdown of the game...

1. If there were ever any doubt why Daryll Clark is the starting quarterback, Saturday night put it all to rest. The guy is a leader and a great player. He may even enter the Heisman race if he keeps it up.

2. I feel like every week I say something about Navarro Bowman, and I'll do it again. To watch him on TV is amazing, but to watch him in person makes you wonder if you're seeing things. He is absolutely INCREDIBLE, and may go down as one of the greatest linebackers to ever play at Penn State. It's no wonder why many people have started calling him "Lavarro".

3. Mark Rubin made more plays in Saturday's game than he has in his entire career. With the exception of the broken coverage Arrelious Benn TD in the 4th quarter, Rubin had a solid game; he even made a couple of great tackles defending the option. I've been down on this guy for a long time, but he played very well. Here's to hoping it continues.

4. Speaking of safeties, Drew Astorino also played well. He is always in the right place at the right time, can tackle, can hit hard, and plays much bigger than his size. Like Rubin, he did a nice job defending the option.

5. We need to stop fumbling.

6. Our defense really adjusted nicely after giving up those 2 touchdowns early.

A quick aside: apparently on the first Illinois TD drive it was so loud in the stadium that the defense couldn't commincate with each other. Normally they would make the calls in the huddle, but they had to do so on the fly because Illinois was running a no-huddle offense. It was so loud they couldn't hear one another. Wow.

7. At this point, perhaps our biggest concern (and perhaps our only one) is MLB Josh Hull. There were many plays where Hull was a step late, got tossed to the side, run out of the play, or even put on his backside. This can't happen. The result was that Illinois was able to run up the middle, and for some big gains. I'm sure PSU and Tom Bradley were content with letting Illinois run up the middle, but not for the yardage that they did. At this point, Hull is not playing well, and other options need to be considered before it will really cost us.

8. From O line to back up WRs, our offense is good.

9. After giving up the first Benn TD, cornerback Lydell Sargeant was benched. His replacement, AJ Wallace, played great, especially considering he had to cover Benn for the rest of the night. Look for Wallace to start for the rest of the season. That's a good thing.

10. Derrick Williams.

Let's Go State!