Penn State Sports Magazine
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An energized defense stifles Illinois' offensive attack CHAMPAIGN HIGH MATT HERB | M A T T@B L U E WH I T E O N L I N E . c O M CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – As Penn State players filed out of the locker room on the way to a couple of waiting buses following their victory over Illinois, Stephon Morris held a copy of a Fight- ing Illini promotional poster. The poster contained a few words scrawled near the bottom in magic marker: "Morris Island shall be occu- pied." It was signed "ILLWRS." Morris said he found the poster in his locker before the game. And while it was impossible to know where it had come from, it defi- nitely helped get him mentally prepared for the game. "That just jacked me up even more," MORRIS the senior cornerback said. "I had to calm myself down. I had to take a couple of deep breaths. I didn't want to be too amped and start missing as- signments and start doing things I normally don't do. So I calmed myself down, and when I got on the field I played within the team [concept]. But I played my heart out." So did the entire defense. Penn State played what coach Bill O'Brien de- scribed as "for the most part an excel- lent football game" in its 35-7 romp over the Fighting Illini. The Lions pounded Illinois throughout the game, surrendering only 74 rushing yards, most of which came on a single carry by Donovonn Young. They were less successful against the pass, surren- dering 292 yards, but Illinois had only one touchdown pass, and it wasn't thrown by starter Nathan Scheelhaase or backup Reilly O'Toole, but by run- ning back Josh Ferguson, who hit Harris Spencer for a 22-yard touch- down on an option pass. O'Brien was pleased with the effort his defense gave and pointed out that the entire unit has made strides since the team's 24-14 loss to Ohio in the season opener. "They're coached well, they understand the schemes, they play well as a unit, they communicate real well, they tackle well for the most part," he said. "I think they're making plays on the ball a little better than we were early in the year. They're doing a decent job on third down. So they're getting better every week, kind of like our football team. That's all you can ask right now." After struggling on third down in their first two games, Penn State's de- fense has done a much better job of getting off the field lately. On Satur- day, the Lions allowed Illinois to con- vert only 4 of 15 third-down chances while forcing six punts. The Illini failed on their first nine third-down conversion attempts and also came up short on two fourth-down tries in- side the Lions' 30. The most spectacular defensive play was Mauti's 99-yard rumble on an in- terception at the end of the first half. He weaved his way down the left side- line, and it looked as though he was going to complete a 14-point swing, turning a likely Illinois touchdown into a Penn State score. Even though he was ruled down at the 1 and the Lions botched the subsequent field goal attempt, the play symbolized the intensity they've been showing on de- fense lately. "Mauti's a helluva player, and we ex- pect him to make big plays in big sit- uations," Morris said. "That's normal to us, to see him make plays like that." And the runback? "He should have scored," Morris said, smiling. "You make it that far, you've gotta score." With unbeaten Northwestern headed to town for this week's home- coming matchup, Penn State doesn't have much time to savor its victory over the Illini. But as he clutched the folded-up Illini poster on his way to the team bus, Morris clearly wasn't quite done celebrating. S E P T E M B E R 2 9 , 2 0 1 2 6 GAME GRADES QUARTERBACKSMatt McGloin wasn't as sharp as he'd been a week earlier against Temple, but there was plenty of good (TD pass to Matt Lehman) with the bad (19-yard sack). GRADEB RUNNING BACKS Penn State hit Illinois with a little bit of everything – Bill Belton, Zach Zwinak and Derek Day – and totaled 173 yards. GRADEB RECEIVERSMixed bag here. It was good to see Alex Kenney get more involved in the passing game, but Allen Robin- son didn't have much of an impact. GRADEB OFFENSIVE LINE Against one of the Big Ten's better defensive fronts, Penn State didn't get as much push ini- tially, but it kept pounding and wore Illinois down. GRADEB DEFENSIVE LINE The Lions really put a hurting on Nathan Scheelhaase while clamping down on the run for the most part. Except for a 52-yard burst by Donovonn Young in the second quarter, the Illini didn't do anything on the ground. GRADE A LINEBACKERSMichael Mauti was all over the field, both on defense and special teams. His interception return at the end of the first half was a season high- light, even if it didn't lead to points. GRADE A DEFENSIVE BACKS Penn State hit hard, as exemplified by Stephen Obeng- Agyapong's drive-stopping hit on Young in the second quarter. GRADEB SPECIAL TEAMS Sam Ficken missed a 47- yarder and had an 18-yarder blocked. In a more competitive game, their kicking difficulties would likely have proven costly. But this wasn't a par- ticularly competitive game. GRADEC- COACHES Bill O'Brien may be a bit of a gambler, but the Lions' poor kicking game is forcing him to take more chances on fourth down than even he would probably like. GRADEB CROWD Illinois has spent a pile of money in recent years refurbishing Memorial Stadium, but relatively few people in Champaign have been en- joying the fruits of that effort. Atten- dance for Saturday's Big Ten opener was listed at 46,734. The 11 a.m. kickoff probably didn't help. Nor did last Saturday's 52-24 home loss to Louisiana Tech. GRADEC B L U E W H I T E O N L I N E . c O M