COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER |
Mark Rubin skipped off the field after Penn State's victory over Illinois Saturday. As he passed through the tunnel on his way to the locker room, young fans stretched their arms down to him, begging for a high-five.
Rubin looked up, paused, pulled a towel from his waistband and handed it to one of the youngsters.
The fan made off with a souvenir from Rubin's best game as a Nittany Lion.
"I just try and show how much we, the team and me individually, appreciate the fan support," Rubin said after the game. "Having 110,000 people cheer for you is why you come to Penn State. Our fans are great, they know when to get loud, when to get quiet for the offense. They're the best fans in the country, and I just try to show my appreciation to them any way that I can."
While just one of those fans got to keep Rubin's towel, the rest got to watch the safety's best performance on the field.
Rubin -- who was originally recruited to play wide receiver -- led the Lions with 10 tackles. He was also responsible for covering formidable Illini receiver Arrelious Benn all night. When Benn lined up in the slot, Rubin stood across from him.
"His strength is definitely his size and hands," Rubin said of Benn. "He made some tough catches in traffic. He's a good blocker and he's just a solid all-around wide receiver."
Benn only caught four passes, but two of those were for touchdowns. On the first, Benn made a sprawling catch that had to be reviewed. The second -- a 54-yard bomb -- came in the fourth quarter on botched coverage.
Rubin -- a fifth-year senior -- was matched up on Benn for that play, but Penn State wasn't prepared to defend the deep ball.
"We happened to be in a zone coverage, and they flooded the zone, and me and Tony [Davis] were already on guys, and he broke it deep," Rubin said. "It was just a hole in the zone. On that play they just picked a better offensive play call and made a play for themselves."
Allowing the deep touchdown was one of Rubin's few mistakes.
Many of Rubin's 10 tackles came at key moments for Penn State.
On Illinois' third possession of the second quarter, Rubin pulled Illini tailback Daniel Dufrene down after a 4-yard gain to force a third and 7. Juice Williams would then throw an incompletion and the Illini would punt.
In the third quarter, Rubin flew past the line of scrimmage and tattooed Illinois' Chris Duvalt for a loss of five yards.
Rubin's partner in the defensive backfield, Anthony Scirrotto is widely renowned as Penn State's hardest hitter. Scirrotto said Rubin is pretty physical as well.
"He's just got that physical presence out there," Scirrotto said. "He's a big body and he's putting his hat on some guys, delivering the blow. He's doing a great job out there, he's come a long way, coming from receiver and switching to defensive back. He's doing a great job and that's what's expected of him."
Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley said a lot was expected of Rubin against the Illini. In addition to covering Benn, Rubin had to keep his eyes on Williams for when Illinois ran the option. Rubin stopped Williams three times behind the first down marker.
"He was physical at the point of attack," Bradley said. "That's a tough job you ask him to do because of all the things you put on him, especially playing the option. He's got to be physical against those blocks all day. There's a million things he has to be disciplined and he handled it pretty tough."
