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[ Monday, Nov. 2, 1998 ]
PHOTO: Shawn Knapp
Lion tailback Cordell Mitchell tries to stiff-arm an Illini tackler during Saturday’s game at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State destroys struggling Illinois
By DON STEWART 
Collegian Staff Writer
There were no letdowns Saturday at Beaver Stadium. That was bad news for Illinois. Having been outscored 120-12 in their previous three outings, the young Illini would have needed almost errorless execution on their part and an unfocused effort by Penn State to survive the battle with the No. 9 Nittany Lions. They got neither. Penn State used its speedy defense and best passing effort of the season to top Illinois, 27-0. Porous pass defense, 60 yards in penalties, five sacks and an interception didn't help the Illini cause. "I'm encouraged with the football team, generally," Penn State coach Joe Paterno said. "We're not quite, maybe, as precise in key situations as we need to be." Early on, it appeared as if it would be Illinois' lucky day. Rocky Harvey took the game's opening kickoff at his own 2-yard line, found a hole, then burst across the field for 53 yards before Penn State kicker Travis Forney made a touchdown-saving tackle. The Lions sacked Illini junior quarterback Kirk Johnson twice on his team's opening drive to get the ball back. Then, with the help of a 47-yard reception by Chafie Fields and two drive-sustaining Illinois offsides penalties on fourth down, Penn State capped an 89-yard, 15-play drive with a 2-yard touchdown run by Aaron Harris to take the early lead.
PHOTO: Tom Harris
An open-armed Nittany Lion masquerades as the Phantom of the Opera during halftime at the football game.
Penn State never looked back. It added two second-quarter touchdowns, including a 10-yard Kevin Thompson-to-Corey Jones touchdown strike near the end of the first half, and two second-half Forney field goals to secure the win.
"They're a very good football team," Illini coach Ron Turner said of Penn State. "Our guys came out and competed hard and gave it everything they had, but the mistakes and the penalties killed us."
Offensively, the run-oriented Lions (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) looked to the air and Thompson. The first-year starter completed 19 of 26 passes for 269 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions in three quarters of work. Both his completions and passing yardage were career highs.
Penn State receivers Jones and Fields benefited from Thompson's success. Fields' 115 yards and Jones' six receptions were both team-highs this season.
The end zone continued to be quarantined for Illini players. Turner tried to shake things up by benching freshman quarterback Kurt Kittner in favor of Johnson.
Johnson threw just one interception but couldn't produce any magic as he threw for just 91 yards on 13 completions and failed to get his team into the end zone.
Illinois (2-7, 1-5) found its best success on the ground, where it outran the Lions in yardage 139 to 122. Its biggest drive came in the third quarter, when it ran mostly between the tackles to push the ball to the Penn State 31-yard line.
The drive was stopped on fourth-and-inches when Lion linebacker LaVar Arrington hurdled the offensive line to stop fullback Elmer Hickman in the backfield moments after he was handed the ball.
Overall, Paterno said his team will need to play better when it visits No. 22 Michigan next week.
"We played a good football game today," Paterno said. "I'm disappointed we didn't (force) more turnovers. I think we can play better than that, defensively. That's not a good offensive football team we played. It's a pretty good defensive team."
| Game seven: Penn State vs. Illinois |
