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Paterno sings praises of Illinois

THAT GREAT philosopher, Forrest Gump, once observed that life is like a box of chocolates in that you never know what you're going to get.

"Illinois is the best football team we've played outside of Alabama," Joe Paterno said Tuesday. (Jim Prisching/AP)
"Illinois is the best football team we've played outside of Alabama," Joe Paterno said Tuesday. (Jim Prisching/AP)Read more

THAT GREAT philosopher, Forrest Gump, once observed that life is like a box of chocolates in that you never know what you're going to get.

At times, football fits ever so snugly into the realm of the unexpected. Texas Tech shocks mighty Oklahoma. Michigan State stuns Wisconsin on a last-second, Hail Mary pass. On the same night, too.

The question for the surprising Penn State Nittany Lions, maybe the most overlooked, underappreciated 7-1 team in the country, is whether the Illinois squad that turns up in Happy Valley on Saturday afternoon have hard-nut or gooey caramel centers. Are the Illini as tough to crack as they appeared to be in storming to a 6-0 start and national rankings of No. 15 in the USA Today coaches' poll and No. 16 in the Associated Press writers' poll? Or will coach Ron Zook's now-unranked squad continue the slide that has now seen it drop two games in a row?

Penn State coach Joe Paterno can't say with total certainty, but he believes his bunch, now ranked 19th in the USA Today poll and 21st by the AP, is in for its toughest test since Alabama rolled into Beaver Stadium on Sept. 10. The Crimson Tide rolled out with a 27-11 victory that now looks a whole lot better to Lions fans than it did then, given the strong possibility that 'Bama could end up as the BCS national champion.

"Generally speaking, Illinois is the best football team we've played outside of Alabama, personnel- and scheme-wise," Paterno said yesterday during his weekly teleconference.

"[Illinois is] a solid football team. The Ohio State game [a 17-7 loss], they kind of let it get away from them . . . they were down 21-0 [to Purdue] in the first half. But after that they understood where they were and outplayed Purdue."

A late Illinois rally came up short as the Boilermakers won, 21-14, but what Paterno has seen on tape is enough to convince him that this Illinois team isn't that much worse, if at all, than the bunch that spoiled Penn State's homecoming in 2010 by spanking the Lions, 33-13, in a game that really wasn't as close as the score indicated. The Illini racked up 23 first downs to PSU's seven and outgained the home team, 437 yards to 235.

"Having a loss like that, in your home stadium, is never something that you like," Penn State defensive tackle Jordan Hill said in recalling last year's embarrassment at the hands of the Illini.

Paterno has been known to sling heaps of praise at undeserving opponents. He's broken out the crying towel in recent seasons before the Lions went out and pancaked such overmatched teams as Indiana State, Eastern Illinois, Coastal Carolina, Florida International and Akron. JoePa's comments usually suggest that the designated victims are ready to become the mice that roared.

His stated high opinion of Illinois, however, appears to be genuine and deserved.

"We've got to play a better football game than we've played all year," Paterno said. "I think we've got our hands full this week. We've got to be a better football team this week than we've been all year."

For his part, Illinois' Zook agrees. But he is just as complimentary about Paterno's outfit as Paterno is about his.

"Good football team," Zook said of the Lions. "The Alabama coaches felt like [Penn State's] front four was probably the best they've faced in a while. As a competitor, you always want to play against the best. If you can't get excited about going to play in Happy Valley, I don't know if you can get excited about college football.

"But you know what? We're a good football team, too. We're 6-2. Do we have to play better? Yeah, absolutely. We've got to play better than we have the last two games. That's the challenge our guys are taking.

"We're going to go out and play loose. Let 'er roll. We can't go out there and play tight."

The Penn State-Illinois series has seen the pendulum take some huge swings in recent years. In 2005, the Lions were humiliating first-year Zook's team, taking a 56-3 lead into halftime, before calling off the dogs thereafter in a 63-10 rout. One year later, Penn State struggled mightily to win, 26-12, in Beaver Stadium in a game in which the Illini won the yardage war, 358-184.

Then there was last year, when the Illini seemed like they were collecting on any debt left over from 2005.

"I thought they kicked our ears in," Paterno said in recalling that homecoming horror. "And Illinois wasn't the only team that kicked our ears in last year."

Nit-picking

Joe Paterno is back to playing it coy on who'll start or get the most snaps at quarterback, even though Matt McGloin went wire-to-wire in last week's 34-24 win at Northwestern. "I haven' got the slightest idea yet," he said of the ongoing battle between McGloin and Rob Bolden. "That is why we are practicing" . . . Star wide receiver Derek Moye will miss his third consecutive game with a broken foot, but might return, after the bye week, for the Nov. 12 home game against Nebraska . . . The status of cornerback Stephon Morris, who did not make the trip to Northwestern because of an undisclosed violation of team rules, remains unclear. That could mean more playing time for impressive freshman Adrian Amos . . . Linebacker Gerald Hodges was named Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week after registering 14 tackles (eight solo), 1 1/2 sacks and an interception, which he returned 63 yards to set up a touchdown.