CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- On his way out of Memorial Stadium, Juice Williams stopped when he came across Illinois running back Rashard Mendenhall in a long corridor. He threw his arms around Mendenhall, who was unwinding with a lemon-lime Gatorade.
"That's my man," said Mendenhall, hugging the Illinois quarterback.
They were two key contributors in Illinois' spread-option attack, which caused a world of problems for Penn State. The Nittany Lions allowed 216 rushing yards on Saturday, the most it had all season, and struggled to contain the Fighting Illini's ground game.
In its spread, the Illini lined up with three or four receivers and worked regularly from the shotgun. It's a trendy offense these days in college football. Florida proved why last season, winning a national championship with coach Urban Meyer's spread style. Appalachian State and Oregon proved it in upsets against Michigan.
And Illinois has shown just how effective it can be this season. Coming into the game, it ranked fifth nationally with 265.5 rushing yards per game. The Illini didn't slow against Penn State.
"We knew going in that they had a good offense," Joe Paterno said. "We knew the quarterback was good, we knew we were going to face a different type of offense than we've seen in a while in the option. After we got settled down, we did a pretty good job defensively -- not a great job. We weren't very good obviously."
The Lions were ranked sixth nationally in rush defense, but they hadn't faced an option team this season. The defense's relative inexperience against the offense showed.
"When you have the option, it's a different animal," Illinois coach Ron Zook said. "It takes away some things you do, in terms of blitzes."
In all, the darting and dashing combo of Williams and Mendenhall made for matchup problems for Penn State players assigned to attacking the quarterback or pitchman on the option. The Illini also threw a few timely blocks, which created exploitable creases in the Penn State defense.
On Mendenhall's 2-yard touchdown run in the opening quarter, for example, Illinois fullback Russ Weil threw a beautiful cut block to seal off charging Penn State cornerback Mark Rubin. Mendenhall walked into the end zone, capping a 13-play, 69-yard drive.
Mendenhall, ranked eighth nationally in rushing yards per game (134) before the game, finished with 76 yards on 18 carries.
"The spread formation causes a lot of problems," Williams said. "So it works in our favor."
Williams was an appropriate complementary flavor to Mendenhall. He rushed for 37 yards on seven carries. However, he was pulled after struggling to effectively pass the football in the second half.
His replacement, redshirt freshman Eddie McGee, was no letdown. McGee rushed for 58 yards on two carries, breaking a 53-yard run on a second-and-9 play during the final Illinois scoring drive.
"It's hard to practice some of that stuff if you don't have a kid that can do some of the things the quarterback can," Paterno said.
"When you get into a game like this where the quarterbacks have a different tempo, it takes you a little longer to get adjusted. Even when the second quarterback came in there, he had fresh legs and the whole bit. ... It's just a question of knowing what to do but at the speed you do it."
DEFENSIVE NOTES: CB Justin King injured his left shoulder while tackling McGee on his 53-yard run. King said the injury was "a stinger." ... LB Navarro Bowman limped to the team bus after the game with an apparent ankle injury. He left the field on crutches with a wrap and ice bag on his right ankle. His status is uncertain, and it is unsure at what point in the game he got injured. ... DT Abe Koroma got his first playing time after breaking the fifth metatarsal in one of his feet in a preseason practice. ... S Tony Davis was wearing what appeared to be reinforced shoulder pads, which had a higher collar. Davis has been battling with a left shoulder injury since the Buffalo game.
