STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Just when it looked as if Penn State and Illinois were going to exchange touchdowns for the length of their “Champions Week” battle Saturday night at Beaver Stadium, the Nittany Lions defense finally gained control.
After the Lions allowed 21 points in the game’s first nine minutes, the defense settled in while the offense ripped off 42 unanswered points, including Jahan Dotson’s second big-play touchdown of the game, to lift the Lions to a 56-21 win over the Fighting Illini.
The Nittany Lions (4-5) closed out the regular season with four straight victories. Two bowls were believed to have interest in their continuing another week, and the team was expected to meet to discuss whether to play in advance of bowl invitations being extended on Sunday.
Quarterback Sean Clifford threw for 285 yards and two touchdowns, short passes that Dotson turned into scoring plays of 75 and 70 yards with his speed. Backup Will Levis ran 4 yards for one touchdown and threw a 7-yard pass to tight end Brenton Strange for another.
Penn State’s freshmen running backs also contributed. Keyvone Lee rushed for 85 yards and a touchdown, and Caziah Holmes scored twice while picking up 77 yards on the ground. Lamont Wade returned a kickoff 100 yards for another score.
Dotson finished with 189 yards on six receptions.
The Fighting Illini (2-6), who were coached by offensive coordinator Rod Smith after last week’s firing of head coach Lovie Smith, were missing six starters on defense and played with just two scholarship linebackers. They allowed 580 total yards to the Lions.
But for the better part of the first quarter, Illinois was the superior team. The Fighting Illini scored on three straight possessions and took a 21-14 lead on Isaiah Williams’ 38-yard pass to tight end Daniel Barker with 6:10 remaining in the period. Their first TD was set up when Clifford fumbled and Illinois recovered at the Penn State 16, with Williams hitting Brian Hightower for a 5-yard score.
It marked the fifth time in five home games that the Nittany Lions had allowed 21 points in the first half.
However, the Lions, whose first two TDs came on a 75-yard pass from Clifford to Dotson on the team’s first play from scrimmage and Wade’s kickoff return, bounced back. The Fighting Illini gained just 75 total yards the rest of the game after Barker’s touchdown, and finished the night with 274.
Meanwhile, the offense started to click, with the Lions scoring touchdowns on each of their next four drives. Levis tied it on a 4-yard run, capping a 10-play, 75-yard drive, and Dotson’s 50-yard punt return set up a 3-yard dash around left end by Holmes just 2:09 later.
The Lions then burned about 7 minutes of clock on a 15-play, 91-yard drive that ended with Lee’s 1-yard run. They worked a lot faster the next time they got the ball, needing one play, with Clifford hitting Dotson on a bubble screen at the 30, and Dotson racing 70 yards for his second big-play TD of the night.
That gave Penn State a 42-21 lead with 3:49 left until halftime.
The Nittany Lions got off to a slow start in the second half but scored late in the third quarter at the end of a 68-yard, nine-play drive, helped by a 15-yard targeting penalty that resulted in the ejection of Illinois safety Derrick Smith. Levis ended the march with a 7-yard scoring pass to Strange, who was flipped by a tackler but managed to land just over the goal line.
The Lions’ last touchdown was a 1-yard run by Holmes, who rushed for 48 yards on the drive and caught a 12-yard pass from Levis.
