Lou Benfatti played the straight man. Tyoka Jackson knocked them down.

For one last time, they were partners, sitting side-by-side in the Beaver Stadium media room. It was the last few minutes they would spend as honored guests in this stadium, and they were sure to spend it wisely.

They had done it once again on the field, as they had done so many times -- rattling the opposing quarterback, leaving running backs grasping for dirt. Jackson had eight tackles and one and a half sacks. Benfatti had six tackles and a sack.

More importantly, Penn State (7-2, 4-2 Big Ten), behind a solid defensive effort after a first-half offensive spurt, had defeated Illinois, 28-14.

"I don't want to leave him, man," the always-glib Jackson smiled at his five-year linemate.

They were honored, along with Penn State's other seniors, in a pregame ceremony. For one last time, they had felt the chills that 90,000 fans can inspire.

"It was a lot of emotion," he said. "I got off to a good start because I was so keyed up coming out of that thing."

It was contagious. Penn State scored 21 points in the first quarter, despite an injury to tailback Ki-Jana Carter. Carter, who strained the calf muscle behind his knee, was replaced by backup Mike Archie.

On the Lions' second drive, Archie spun for 22 yards to the Illinois goal-line before the ball popped out of his hands and rolled into the end zone. Somehow, 5-foot-10 wide receiver Chip LaBarca dove underneath a pile of bodies and recovered the football.

"Italians are sneaky like that," Coach Joe Paterno joked. "We have all learned how to take things away from people."

Penn State drove twice more on a supposedly stingy Illinois defense, with Archie and Milne capping off drives. Coming into the game, the Illini run defense was No. 4 in the nation, allowing only 85.4 rushing yards per game.

The Lions, behind a backup tailback, eclipsed that in the first quarter.

"When you've been as strong against the run as we have been, and then give up the yardage that we gave up to them in the first half, that takes your breath away a little bit on defense," Illinois Coach Lou Tepper said.

The Lions tacked on one more touchdown after Terry Killens recovered a fumble and returned it to the Illinois 24. Archie ran the ball five straight times, finally pounding it in from nine yards for his second touchdown.

"Archie's a fine back. People get all uptight, because one guy's not playing one game," Paterno said.

Illinois tacked on a touchdown late in the first half when quarterback Johnny Johnson found wide receiver Gary Voelker from 22 yards away.

After that, things slowed down considerably. As a steady rain continued to fall on the Beaver Stadium turf, the teams began a back-and-forth second-half defensive struggle.

The Illini narrowed the gap to 28-14, but could get no closer.

And as the fans and players and coaches vacated from a muddy field, Tyoka Jackson stooped over and tore off a piece of turf.

"Don't tell anybody," Jackson smiled. "I love Beaver Stadium, and I went out and got a piece of turf."

"What are you going to do with it?" Benfatti asked.

"I'm going to put it on my mantle," Jackson replied. "There's not going to be anything in there but that dirt."

Notes:

-- Carter, who eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season early in the first quarter, said he should be ready to play at Northwestern next Saturday.