LOOKING AHEAD
Indiana (3-5, 3-3) at Penn State (3-5, 2-4), 12:10 p.m. Saturday, Beaver Stadium. The Hoosiers have averaged 42.6 points in three Big Ten Conference road games this season.
NOTEBOOK
Illinois Coach Ron Turner expressed disappointment at the lack of fan support at a news conference Monday, when 19,000 tickets remained unsold for the Fighting Illini's game yesterday against Penn State. His plea for fan support worked. Illinois played in front of its second sellout crowd of the season. The final 2,000 tickets were sold yesterday morning before the game. The other sellout was Wisconsin Oct. 20.
Illinois rushed for 141 yards in the second half after rushing for just 43 in the first half. "Our offensive coaching staff did a good job of making adjustments at halftime," Turner said. "They saw a few things we could do with our running game. Our players get stronger as the game goes on and wear the other team down a little."
Nowhere to run
Illinois held Penn State to 114 yards rushing after the Nittany Lions averaged 203 on the ground in their three-game winning streak. Eddie Drummond (East Liberty) led Penn State rushers with 34 yards on six carries. He lined up as a tailback with Omar Easy sitting out with a hamstring injury.
Penn State scored first in a game for the first time this season when Bruce Branch returned a punt 71 yards for touchdown 65 seconds into the game. It was Branch's fourth career punt return for a touchdown, a Penn State record. Branch, a senior, had been tied with O.J. McDuffie.
Penn State scored its fifth special teams touchdown of the season when Larry Johnson returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown with 3:29 left. The Lions have returned two blocked punts for touchdowns and scored off a fake field goal.
Branch, a cornerback, added to his fine day by intercepting a Kurt Kittner pass with 2:50 remaining before halftime. Shawn Mayer intercepted Kittner early in the second quarter.
Penn State led at the end of the first quarter for the first time this season. It was also the first time the Lions held an opponent scoreless in the first quarter.
Illinois is 8-1 for the first time since 1983. It's only the 13th time in school history the Illini have won eight games.
Illinois came into the game ranked 12th in the latest Bowl Championship Series standings and representatives from the Fiesta, Sugar and Citrus bowls were in attendance yesterday. The Big Ten has five bowl tie-ins -- the Rose Bowl/BCS title game, Citrus, Outback, Alamo and Sun. If the Big Ten champion is not ranked 1 or 2 in the BCS standings, it will play in the the Orange, Sugar or Citrus Bowl.
Penn State now leads the series, 9-2. The Lions are 5-2 in Champaign. The only other loss came in 1960.
Penn State appeared on television for the 54th consecutive game and 88th in the past 89. The Lions appeared on an ABC national or regional telecast for the fourth time this season. They were on ESPN twice and ESPN2 once.
The come-from-behind victory was Illinois' fourth of the season and third in a row. The Illini also came back against Northern Illinois, Wisconsin and Purdue. The Boilermakers were up, 13-0, last week before Illinois scored 38 unanswered points.
Mayer's interception was the first of his career. ... Penn State RB Eric McCoo's 63-yard touchdown pass to Tony Johnson was his first career pass attempt. ... Illinois CB Eugene Wilson had three interceptions. ... Kittner moved into fifth place on the conference's all-time yardage list. ... RB Rocky Harvey moved into fourth place on the school's all-time rushing list.
QB Zack Mills' left ankle was sprained in the first quarter and he did not return. ... Easy did not play because of his hamstring injury. ... S Sam Crenshaw (hip flexor) did not make the trip. He was replaced on the travel roster by true freshman Paul Cronin of Uniontown, Ohio.
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