The last time Penn State won a Big Ten opener, the Nittany Lions won a Big Ten championship.

There are still seven Big Ten games remaining, but Penn State started off on the right foot with Saturday's 38-24 win at Beaver Stadium.

The Nittany Lions' last win in the conference opener was in 2005, when they rallied for a 34-29 win at Northwestern. But that win was their only win in a conference opener in the past eight seasons.

Fullback Dan Lawlor called a win to start Big Ten play "real important," and running back Evan Royster echoed similar thoughts.

"It feels great," Royster said. "We can't dwell on it for too long, though. We've got to look forward to next week."

Before Saturday, Joe Paterno said he would have a better idea of how good Penn State is when the game doesn't always come easily, much like the four non-conference games did.

For the first time Saturday, Penn State trailed and there was some back-and-forth.

Seeing his team respond gave Paterno more of an idea of the type of team he has than a 1-0 conference start, he said.

"That is as important as the record, because I think from there we can now play with a little more assurance than we may have had going into this week," Paterno said.

Day to remember

Offense: Derrick Williams. Who else? He had 241 all-purpose yards and was the first player in the Joe Paterno era to score a touchdown on a rushing attempt, reception and kickoff return. The play call when Williams took a fake out of the backfield and ran a wheel route for a 21-yard touchdown was a thing of beauty. Williams was also named the Big Ten special teams player of the week, his first career conference player of the week award.

Defense: Anthony Scirrotto. Tough call between linebacker Navorro Bowman (10 tackles, a forced fumble and pass breakup), safety Mark Rubin (10 tackles) and Scirrotto, but the captain gets the edge.

Day to forget

Offense: Stephfon Green. The running back had just 22 yards on six carries and lost a fumble that Illinois turned into a field goal. He also failed to convert a first down on a fourth and 1. Paterno usually has little patience for players who fumble and Green didn't carry again.

Defense: Josh Hull. Teammates say he's intelligent and a hard worker. But those traits alone won't cut it in the Big Ten. Hull looked slow, couldn't shed blocks quickly enough and was dragged forward on some of his seven tackles. He'll need to improve, or opponents will continue to exploit Penn State's run defense up the middle.

Did you notice?

Former defensive tackle Jay Alford, who's now with the New York Giants, on the sidelines. ... A number of recruits were also on the sidelines. ... The students in the front row who painted defensive end Aaron Maybin's last name on their chests. The letter 'Y' was missing awhile before rejoining the group. ... Illinois wide receiver Arrelious Benn and Penn State corner Knowledge Timmons jawing on the first punt return.

Extra point

Guido D'Elia, Penn State's director of branding and marketing, ought to be beaming. A large portion of the 109,626 damp fans on hand sang CCR's "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" in unison, and almost all of the fans except for the Illinois' faithful wore white. The moment was the closest Penn State has come to replicating the unforgettable 2005 Ohio State-Penn State game.

Quotable

"You would have thought we were Oregon State alums."

-- Center A.Q. Shipley, describing the scene at his apartment Thursday night when he, Rich Ohrnberger, Anthony Scirrotto and Doug Klopacz watched the Beavers upset USC.