Derek Allen is still haunted by a touchdown-nullifying penalty he committed in the 20-12 loss to Ohio State Oct. 9, the lone blemish on Illinois’ Big 10 record.
Allen, a junior left guard from Geneseo, was whistled for being illegally downfield before quarterback Johnny Johnson unleashed a 33-yard scoring pass to Ken Dilger. The play came with the Illini trailing 17-12 midway through the fourth quarter.
“Of course I always think about it because, hey, we lost that game, and that could have made the difference,” Allen said. “When the touchdown was (signaled initially), in my mind, I thought that was the end of the game, that the tide had been turned and that the defense was going to shut them down.”
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Game films revealed that Allen was a couple of yards beyond the line when Johnson fired. Some Illinois players and fans whined later that officials routinely overlook linemen downfield, but Allen refused to complain.
“I haven’t noticed a lot of guys being downfield and us sitting there saying, `Ooh, we were lucky on that,’ ” he said.