Blue White Illustrated

T I M   O W E N | O W E N . T I M . B W I @ G M A I L . c O M At 6-foot-4, Austin Johnson stuck out like a sore thumb as he stood head-and- shoulders above a group of reporters in the Beaver Stadium interview room, shaking his head in disbelief. Johnson wasn't the one answering questions. No, he'd already done that, calling Penn State's 39-0 win over Illi- nois "a good day for the whole defense." Now Johnson was located in the back of a scrum of media, towering over them to catch a glimpse of what was the main postgame attraction. In the center of the semicircle sat An- thony Zettel, hands in his sweatshirt pocket, politely answering question aCer question. It looked like a typical postgame media room scene, except for one thing: Zettel was wearing a white hockey goalie mask like the fictional character Jason Voorhees in the horror film "Friday the 13th." As Johnson looked over at his fellow defensive tackle, he laughed and said, "There's something wrong with that guy." On Halloween, wearing his No. 98 Penn State jersey instead of a costume, Zettel helped liC Penn State to its most com- manding victory of the season. Starting linebacker Jason Cabinda, who led the team with seven tackles, called it "the most complete" game of the nine that Penn State has played so far. "We hadn't pitched a shutout this sea- son yet," Cabinda said, "and getting it today – in a really big way – was awe- some." In earning Penn State's first Big Ten shutout since 2009 and its largest since '02, the defense forced the Illini into 12 punts, an interception and two turnovers on downs on 15 total possessions. A three-and-out on the first drive of the game set the tone, as Illinois went three and out on four more drives throughout the game. No Illinois posses- sion lasted longer than 3 minutes and 30 seconds, and none consisted of more than eight plays. Maybe most impressive? Not once did Illinois cross Penn State's 40-yard line. "That means the world," Zettel said, his voice slightly muffled from the plastic mask. "It's another step in the right direction that we want to go in. I think if we can keep improving every week, we're going to have something special." With a game plan that centered around stopping the run – Illinois had just 37 yards on the ground – and pressuring the O c T O B E R 3 1 , 2 0 1 5 B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M 6 SCARE TACTICS Illinois suffers nightmarish afternoon against PSU's powerful defense EARLY MOMENTUM Reeder helped Penn State jump out to an early lead, as his 44-yard interception return gave Penn State possession in the red zone, setting up the team's second touchdown. Photo by Bill Anderson

• Cover