No. 9 Penn State turns back No. 19 Illinois behind running backs, defense [updated]

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.

Allen and Singleton combined to rush for 196 yards and two touchdowns as No. 9 Penn State opened Big Ten play with a hard-fought 21-7 victory over No. 19 Illinois.

“I don’t know if there’s a better combination of running backs in the country,” Franklin said. “There were physical runs out there tonight. I couldn’t be prouder of that group and how they’re playing.”

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 the touchdown was wiped out when Zion Tracy was penalized for blocking in the back.

After Penn State took over at the Illinois 41, Allen sealed it with a 5-yard scoring 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.

“When you’re able to run the ball like that on offense and stop the run on defense,” Franklin said, “good things are gonna happen for you.”

Penn State outgained Illinois 239-34 on the ground and limited the Illini to 1.1 yards per carry. The Lions sacked Altmyer seven times, including five in the second half. Defensive end Abdul Carter had two sacks and four tackles for loss.

“Everybody’s going to game-plan for him,” safety Jaylen Reed said, “but he’s doing a great job of finding a way to make plays for the team.”

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 held the Illini to 59 yards in the second half and did not allow them to cross midfield until the final minute.

Carter put an exclamation point on the win when he sacked Altmyer and forced him to fumble in the final seconds.

“We just kept our composure (after the first drive of the game),” Carter said. “We’ve been in those situations before. We didn’t lose our composure. We stayed calm and kept playing.”

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.

They also committed six penalties for 63 yards, including two that helped Illinois on its lone scoring drive.

“We have to be a lot better with penalties,” Carter said. “We have to be more disciplined. Coach has been harping on that and we’ve been harping on that. We have to get better. We left a lot of food on the table because of that.”

The crowd, almost all dressed in white, made its presence felt throughout the night, especially late in the second quarter.

Illinois drove its 23-yard line to a first down at the Penn State 2. Facing the Penn State student section in the south end zone, the Illini lost 9 yards on a snap that sailed over Altmyer’s head, 3 yards on a tackle for loss by Hakeem Beamon, 8 yards on an intentional grounding penalty and 5 yards on false start.

On fourth-and-goal from the 27, David Olano missed a 45-yard field goal try. It was the last scoring threat for Illinois.

“The crowd had an impact on the game, whether it was timeouts, false starts or bad snaps,” Franklin said. “We’re so thankful and appreciative of the fans and the environment we get here. It’s like nothing in sports.”

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 knocked down a defensive end and then ran over a defender.

“We take a lot of pride in our physicality,” Singleton said. “Coach Seider (running backs coach Ja’Juan Seider) is always talking about dirty runs. Illinois is a good team. We knew we had to wear them out with that physicality.”

Then from the 4, Warren took the snap and handed it to Singleton, who ran unscathed for the score. Singleton and Allen kept pounding Illinois the rest of the way.

“That game really played out for a long time the way Illinois wants the game to go,” Franklin said. “They want one-possession games. They want to keep it tight.

“I challenged our O-line against their D-line and I challenged our D-line against their O-line. I think that was the difference in the game.”