Penn State romps over Illinois 63-10

By Darrell Laurant  |   Sunday, October 23, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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Wait -- aren't you supposed to schedule teams you can beat for Homecoming?

Of course, at the time the University of Illinois chose Penn State for its impress-the-alumni game in 2005, the Nittany Lions were in a serious tailspin and Joe Paterno was considered to be approaching football senility.

Big mistake, as it turned out. Not only did Illinois wind up inviting to Champaign one of the strongest Penn State squads in a decade, but the Illini caught Paterno's team the week after it had lost on the final play at Michigan. Instead of sulking, the 12th-ranked Nittany Lions exploded. Final score: 63-10, Penn State, which must have put a damper on the Homecoming parties.

Certainly, no quarterback in the country this season has produced the sort of half Penn State junior Michael Robinson dropped on Illinois. In the first quarter, Robinson threw four touchdown passes -- two to Deon Butler, one each to Ethan Kilmer and Patrick Hall. In the second quarter, he scored twice himself. It was 56-3 at halftime, and Robinson was long gone -- after that, Paterno could probably have played Mrs. Robinson at quarterback.

The victory was Paterno's 350th, second among active coaches. It was also Illinois' worst defeat since 1986, and the second time this season the Illini (2-5, 0-4) have given up more than 60 points (Michigan State beat them 61-14 in September).

Nothing Illinois tried worked. Quarterback Tim Brasic, who had thrown for over 1,200 yards going in, was 8 of 16 for 48 yards. Starting running back Pierre Thomas Jr. gained just 46 yards. The Illini were two of 15 in third down conversions. Their defense certainly couldn't stop the Penn State offense from scoring and their offense couldn't even stop the Penn State defense from scoring -- Lion linebacker Dan Connor returned a fumble 18 yards for a touchdown and DB Nolan McCready dashed 76 yards to the end zone with a second-half interception.

By winning, Penn State went to 7-1, and its 4-1 Big Ten record kept the Lions tied with Wisconsin atop the conference standings. Illinois, meanwhile, showed that it has major problems -- and now, all the alumni know about it.
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