CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Tom Bradley's stout defense got two assists against Illinois.

The first was an offense that kept it off the field, especially in the third quarter.

The other was a little less ordinary -- Mother Nature.

"I thought the key was, right there, they took the wind in the third quarter," the defensive coordinator said about Illinois after the game.

"We had debated early, and coach [Joe] Paterno thought maybe we would, if we won the toss, we'd take the ball and then we figured they'd take the ball, but he decided not to. They ended up taking the wind, and didn't see them have one first down in the third quarter. And I think that's when the game was won, right then and there."

In the third quarter, the Nittany Lions held Illinois without a first down and only eight yards as Penn State's defense was on the field for just 2:56 in the quarter.

For the game, Fighting Illini senior quarterback Juice Williams was sacked three times, picked off on the last play of the first half and fumbled in the fourth quarter. While Williams threw for 263 yards, 118 of those came after the Lions grabbed a 21-3 lead early in the fourth.

"He's an athlete, for real, for real," defensive end Eric Latimore said about Williams. "He's a freak of nature. To be that big and that fast, we just had to focus on Juice all week in practice."

Williams did become the school's all-time leader for total offense in a career during the game by surpassing Kurt Kittner, but he didn't record his first touchdown of the season -- either rushing or passing -- until 8:46 was left in the game.

The signal caller also squandered a chance to put up points near the end of the half when he was chased down by Jack Crawford and was flagged for intentional grounding.

"That's what Penn State defense is all about," linebacker Josh Hull said. "When we get down in the red zone, we buckle our helmets up, ready to go."

Hull led the Lions in tackles yet again with 11. For the second straight game, the linebackers played without Sean Lee, who was in uniform but didn't play.

Thanks to the intentional grounding penalty, the ball moved from the Penn State 23-yard line all the way to the 43 as Illinois finished with just three first-half points.

But Williams' struggles only continued, leading head coach Ron Zook to contemplate making a switch.

"I wanted to see if he could play himself out of it and go," Zook told reporters after the game. "He did some nice things, he kept fighting and in that last series, he got down there and threw some nice balls and took it in himself. We talked about switching him out, but I wanted to give him the chance to play himself out of it."

Williams' top target was Arrelious Benn, who had season-highs with five catches and 96 yards. Eighty-four of those yards came in the second quarter when Benn displayed his elusiveness, but Illinois settled for a field goal despite a second-and-goal from the 4-yard line and also had the pick to end the half.

Other than the second quarter, the "D" held the dangerous receiver in check.

"We're closer and closer to getting back to Penn State football and playing the way we know how to play and not letting the little thing keep us from getting the win," linebacker Navorro Bowman said.