At some point in his tenure, Illinois coach Ron Zook needed a game like this. A month into his third season was enough of a wait.
And Saturday at sold-out Memorial Stadium, Zook watched as his blueprint for rebuilding Illinois football came to life in a 27-20 upset of No. 21 Penn State.
“I don’t say we’ve turned it around, but we’ve made progress and we can honestly say now that we have made progress,” Zook said. “And we have to continue to improve.”
Illinois is 4-1 for the first time since the 2001 Sugar Bowl season and 2-0 in the Big Ten for the first time since 1991. After four straight victories, the six needed for bowl eligibility seems all but assured.
While Penn State fell to 3-2, 0-2 in the Big Ten, the Illini are knocking on the Top 25 door and dreaming big dreams.
“Why not us?” said linebacker J Leman, the leader of a defense that forced three turnovers in Penn State’s final four possessions and recorded four sacks.
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The decision ended the Illini’s 17-game losing streak against Top 25 teams but also will go down in school history as the first huge game for Zook’s most prominent recruit, freshman receiver Arrelious Benn.
Benn, who shunned programs with more storied traditions to play for Zook, took charge of this game early and the Illini held on for a victory that featured other subplots, most notably the benching of quarterback Juice Williams for Eddie McGee in a relief role.
After Penn State took a 3-0 lead on Kevin Kelly’s 26-yard field goal, the Nittany Lions made a mistake in kicking to Benn. He fielded it at the Illinois 10, headed straight up the middle and scored virtually untouched to give the Illini a lead they never relinquished.
“It got the crowd into it right away,” said Penn State coach Joe Paterno, who ordered a squib kick at the next opportunity. “We had every opportunity to win the football game, but you have to give Illinois credit. They made plays in the clutch, and we didn’t. Simple as that.”
So the Illini led 7-3 before Williams led the offense on the field, and Williams then guided what would be the unit’s only long touchdown drive of the game, a 69-yard effort culminating in Rashard Mendenhall’s 2-yard score.
After Penn State pulled within 14-10 on Anthony Morelli’s 24-yard scoring pass to Derrick Williams, Benn took control of the game after a fumble set the Illini up at the Penn State 39.
On first down from the Penn State 29, Benn caught a slant over the middle at the 15 and broke four tackles on the way to his second touchdown.
“I wasn’t going to be denied,” said Benn, who led Illinois with six catches for 84 yards. “This is why I came here, to beat a Top 25 team.”
But it would be the Illini’s last touchdown. Although Williams missed out on a possible touchdown pass that became an interception when a ball glanced off Brian Gamble’s fingertips, it wasn’t a good day for him. Zook had seen enough when Williams bounced one in front of him as the Illini were trying to protect a 24-20 lead in the fourth quarter.
Enter McGee, who kept the ball on an option and went for 53 yards to the Penn State 16. That set up Jason Reda’s 33-yard field goal to make it 27-20.
Zook said “for now,” pending film review, he plans to stick with Williams as the starter.
“Juice was forcing passes,” Zook said. “I’m not saying we’re in a two-quarterback system. I wanted to see if we can get a little spark. [McGee] can run, and it changed field position.”
After the field goal, matters were left to the defense, especially Leman, who single-handedly killed a Penn State drive with the Illini up 24-20 late in the third quarter. First he knocked a touchdown pass away from tight end Andrew Quarless.
“I had my back to the quarterback and [Quarless’] eyes were getting bigger, so I started to swat at the ball before it got there,” Leman said. “If you wait until it gets there, it’s too late.”
Two plays later, the senior from Champaign got his first college interception.
“It felt like it was in the air forever,” he said. “He lofted it up there. We were actually caught in the wrong coverage, but we were able to capitalize on Morelli’s error.”
Then in the fourth quarter came Vontae Davis’ interception at the Illinois 18, Justin Harrison’s forcing a Morelli fourth-down fumble to kill a drive at the Illinois 13 and Kevin Mitchell’s interception at the Illinois 9 with nine seconds left.
And when it was over, defensive end Will Davis led the players into an impromptu thank-you visit to the new north stands, where students sit.
“I was expecting them to rush the field, but I saw they were being kept back, so I thought, ‘Why not take it to them?’ and everybody followed,” Davis said. “We thrive off them.”
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