Penn State falls to Illinois, 33-13

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Illinois did more than ruin Penn State's homecoming with a 33-13 victory Saturday at Beaver Stadium.

The Fighting Illini also crushed the Nittany Lions' hopes of contending for a conference title. With the meat of the Big Ten schedule approaching, the loss also exposed Penn State (3-3, 0-2 Big Ten) for what it is: a struggling team.

"We stunk," Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno said.

Illinois (3-2, 1-1) manhandled the Lions en route to its first victory at Beaver Stadium in seven tries.

Taking its share of lumps, banged-up Penn State lost starting free safety Nick Sukay (pectoral muscle), and defensive ends Eric Latimore (left wrist) and Peter Massaro (quadriceps and dehydration) to injuries along with reserve hero safety Andrew Dailey (stinger) and defensive end Jordan Hill (ankle).

"They kicked our ears in," Paterno said. "The linebackers, I never thought they saw a pass before.

"But who do you blame? You've got to blame us [the coaches]. I'm not going to start going around pointing fingers at kids. I don't think that's fair to them."

Regardless of who's to blame, Penn State was unimpressive in what several Nittany Lions said last week was a "must-win" game.

Running over and around would-be Penn State tacklers, Illinois compiled 282 rushing yards - the most against the Nittany Lions since Minnesota rushed for 288 in 2004.

Illini junior running back Mikel Leshoure had 119 yards on 27 carries.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase, who is not known for his passing, was an efficient 15 of 19 for 151 yards and a touchdown.

"I thought at times we didn't fight in there," Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said. "When you see the pile going forward, that always bothers you from a defensive standpoint.

"Once again, we just have to do a better job tackling."

The offense also has to do a better job.

Penn State's seven first downs were the second fewest in Paterno's 45 seasons as coach. The Lions also were held to 65 rushing yards, a season-low 235 yards of total offense, and continued their struggles in the red zone.

Recovering both of Jack Ramsey's fumbled punts, Penn State started drives at the Illinois 23- and 9-yard lines. The drives concluded with 28- and 22-yard field goals by Collin Wagner.

"We just didn't capitalize on our opportunities," fullback Mike Zordich said. "And we need to do better than that for the fans, for Penn State, and for our team just to get some wins."

Wagner's first field goal gave the Nittany Lions a 3-0 advantage with 4 minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Illinois responded early in the second quarter with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Scheelhaase to wideout A.J. Jenkins.

An athletic play by Nate Bussey extended the Illini's lead. The outside linebacker tipped and intercepted Penn State quarterback Rob Bolden's attempted swing pass to wideout Devon Smith. Bussey returned his interception 16 yards for a touchdown that gave Illinois a 14-3 cushion with 9:39 left in the second quarter.

Bolden (8 of 21, 142 yards) made up for that play 11 seconds later by throwing an 80-yard touchdown pass to Derek Moye.

The Nittany Lions had a chance to knot the score at 17 after Ramsey's second dropped punt gave them possession at the Illini 9.

But Penn State was unable to move the ball, and Wagner kicked a 22-yard field goal to put the team within 17-13 with 2:49 remaining before intermission.

Illinois, however, responded with 16 unanswered points.

"This is not where we expected where we were going to be as players," Penn State right guard Stefen Wisniewski said. "Certainly, I don't think this is where the fans saw us either.

"We are going to need to take a really good look at ourselves to decide if we want it or not."