It was the Northwestern game all over again. Penn State was on the verge of upsetting another Big Ten team with a much better record away from Beaver Stadium. This win would have meant the Nittany Lions could lose to Indiana, Michigan State or Virginia and still get a bowl bid.

But there was one major difference: Penn State had to face the Fighting Illini.

Zack Mills wasn't on the field. And it made a huge difference. A game-deciding difference.

Matt Senneca, who was replaced by Mills as the Penn State starter against Southern Mississippi, came in after the freshman injured his ankle at the start of the second quarter.

The Lions were up 14-0, and then 21-7 after tailback Eric McCoo threw a touchdown pass to Tony Johnson on a trick play.

Senneca played so poorly for the rest of the game that McCoo's lone pass — his first ever pass attempt — went for more passing yards than Senneca had for three quarters.

McCoo: 63. Senneca: 52. That's 52 passing yards in three quarters. The junior was 6-for-23 and although some of the passes were catchable, many were not. The most catchable balls Senneca threw were his three misfires that got picked off by the Illinois secondary.

He couldn't hit his receivers coming out of the backfield, twice skipping it incomplete and almost had his receivers killed throwing the ball too high as they ran routes across the middle.

The final drive of the game, when Illinois was leading 33-28, was a microcosm of the problems Senneca and the Lions offense had all day.

First down, incomplete pass to Bryant Johnson. Second down, the same thing. On third-and-10, Senneca passed to McCoo, the ball tipped off his fingers and into the hands of Illinois cornerback Christian Morton. That was the final play of the day for the Penn State offense. It wasn't much different than all the others.

Senneca said after the game that it is his job to get the ball to the open receivers and he didn't do that against the Illini. He basically said it was his fault Penn State lost. It wasn't all his fault, it was the receivers dropping passes and the defense giving up 19 points in the fourth quarter.

But Senneca's lack of production isn't bad luck, like coach Paterno has been saying, trying to protect a guy that has done an admirable job for Penn State.

This week, there are only a few people in State College that will be more important to the Penn State football team than Paterno.

The trainers who will work on Mills' ankle, preparing it for the Indiana game on Saturday will have to earn their paychecks in the next few days. Ice it, heat it, tape it, I don't care what needs to be done, but just get Mills ready for the Hoosiers.

Without him, 19 Lions careers will be finished on Dec. 1.