Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen each rushed for second-half touchdowns Saturday night as No. 9 Penn State toppled No. 19 Illinois 21-7 in State College, Pa. in a battle of Big Ten Conference unbeatens.
Singleton snapped a 7-7 tie by rushing for a 4-yard score on the Nittany Lions’ first drive of the second half, capping a 12-play march that lasted more than six minutes. Allen added the clinching touchdown on a 5-yard run up the middle with 1:55 left in the game.
That came eight plays after Fighting Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer’s pass was picked off by A.J. Harris on fourth-and-6 from their 48 for Altmyer’s first interception of the year. His 51-yard touchdown return was nullified by a penalty but Penn State (4-0, 1-0) tallied anyway after the turnover.
Altmyer completed 16 of 25 passes for 185 yards and a score while operating under increasing pressure as the game wore on. He was sacked seven times as Illinois fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference.
Drew Allar hit 15 of 21 passes for 135 yards for the Nittany Lions, while Allen rushed for 102 yards on 18 carries. Penn State earned a 374-219 advantage in total yardage.
The main storyline going into this one was Illinois’ surprising ascension into the Top 25 and whether it could handle the test of a second straight ranked opponent on the road.
As it did last week when it stopped then-No. 22 Nebraska 31-24 in overtime, the Illini started fast. They took the opening kickoff and methodically marched 75 yards in 11 plays. Altmyer found tight end Carson Goda for a 4-yard touchdown, his first career scoring grab.
Penn State answered just over four minutes later, creating a spate of chunk plays on its own 75-yard scoring drive. Tight end Tyler Warren took a direct snap at the 3 and powered over the goal line for the equalizer.
Defenses ruled the half’s remainder, although both teams failed to cash in good drives late in the second quarter, missing long field goals. That left the score even at intermission.
–Field Level Media