GAME SNAPSHOT
KICKOFF: Friday, 9 p.m. ET
SITE: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Ill.
TV: FS1
SERIES: Penn State leads Illinois 18-5. The Nittany Lions won the last meeting, 39-0 in 2016.
RANKINGS: Penn State No. 10
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Nittany Lions
–WR KJ Hamler has emerged as one of the most exciting players in the Big Ten. The speedy receiver has been a difference-maker on offense and kick return and got to return punts for the first time against Kent State.
–OL Will Fries, Ryan Bates, Connor McGovern, Michael Menet and Steven Gonzalez. This group has matured quickly and has developed a nice chemistry that’s helped churn out more than 200 rush yards over the last six games. Illinois has been muscled around up front and will have a long, tough night if they can’t get off blocks.
–DE Shareef Miller gave Penn State fans a scare last week when he left the game early after hitting his head awkwardly on the ground diving to make a stop behind the line of scrimmage. But the team’s most experienced pass rusher returned to post a pair of second half sacks. Illinois QB AJ Bush missed last week with a hamstring injury. Even at 100 percent, it’ll be hard for him to escape from Miller’s rush if the Illini can’t block him.
Fighting Illini
–QB M.J. Rivers took over starting duties last week as senior AJ Bush recovers from a hamstring injury he sustained in a 34-14 win over Western Illinois two weeks ago. Rivers has completed 29 of 45 passes for 273 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing 20 times for 24 yards. Illinois coach Lovie Smith did not indicate whether Rivers or Bush will be the starter Friday against Penn State, but said that Bush is “getting better.”
–RB Mike Epstein was used sparingly through his first two games this season as a precaution to ease him back into his workload after suffering a season-ending injury foot injury in 2017 but carried the ball 19 times for 113 yards and a touchdown in last Saturday’s 25-19 loss to South Florida. Epstein has 35 carries for 251 yards and two touchdowns this season and will likely continue his role as the primary ball carrier against Penn State.
–WR Ricky Smalling has been a reliable target, catching seven passes for 110 yards this season. As the Illini continue to develop their passing game, Smalling should play a pivotal role in doing so after leading the team in receiving yards as a freshman in 2017.
–DE Bobby Roundtree has 13 tackles and one sack through three games and will be an important player to watch against Penn State if the Illini hope to contain quarterback Trace McSorley, who has five passing touchdowns and six rushing touchdowns this season.
KEYS
TO THE GAME
Now that conference play is here, James Franklin knows his team won’t likely get away with the mistakes it’s made in three wins up to this point.
The No. 10 Nittany Lions’ last outing — a 63-10 beat down against Kent State — featured too many errors for Franklin to recognize it as an ideal offensive showcase despite racking up 643 yards with eight players having a hand in at least one touchdown.
“There’s a whole bunch of stuff that’s on that tape that’s ugly and smells bad and winning sometimes is like the deodorant that covers up the funk,” Franklin said after the win. “It doesn’t mean that you still can’t correct the issues and the problems because they’re there.”
And Franklin has less time to do so with the Big Ten opener Friday night at Illinois. Thankfully, he said Penn State was able to pull most of its starters early enough in the third quarter to give them a bit of a rest before beginning a short week to prepare.
Franklin usually gives players Mondays off, but they found themselves in team meetings to start the week where they revisited their miscues from Saturday.
Those included two fumbles, a handful of dropped passes and nine penalties for 109 yards — three of those washed out long touchdowns.
“That’s something that’s plagued us,” Penn State quarterback Trace McSorley said. “Penalties taking back big plays. But in the moment, if it’s a hold or something up front, it’s just talking to that guy, being like, ‘Hey, move on to the next one’ making sure they’re not letting it affect them too much.”
McSorley’s dual-threat abilities have masked some of the underlying issues.
He ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more against the Golden Flashes while becoming the program leader in touchdowns by a quarterback and the second Penn State signal-caller to run for 1,000 career yards.
He’d have more yards through the air if his wideouts could hold onto the ball. Juwan Johnson, DeAndre Thompkins and Brandon Polk — three of the team’s top four wideouts — have each dropped at least two passes.
The belief should be pretty high considering the fact that their rushing attack has produced 200-plus yards in six-straight games and who their opponents will be.
The Illini haven’t beaten a Big Ten opponent since Nov. 5, 2016 and are allowing on average 480 yards per game. They were just roasted for 626 in a loss last weekend to South Florida.
Despite the numbers, the Illini got the start they wanted against the Bulls.
“After watching the video, I like a lot of things that we did in the game,” Illinois coach Lovie Smith told reporters on Monday. “All phases, special teams, offense, defense. But you don’t like the way we finished as a team.”
South Florida scored the final 18 points in the fourth quarter after trailing 19-7 through three.
Playing the second half at the same level or better than the first will be the big challenge for Illinois. It seems more daunting considering the Nittany Lions haven’t allowed a second-half score since Appalachian State poured 28 on them in the fourth quarter of the season opener.
“I feel like we’re getting better and better every week,” Penn State linebacker Cam Brown said. “It sounds cliche, but obviously guys are getting more chemistry and starting to mesh well together. We are starting to get everything so going into week four I feel like we will be even better.”
Smith said he thinks that’s the case for his defense, too. While gouged, the Illinois defense has limited opposing scoring by creating seven turnovers including two interceptions per game. Linebacker Del’Shawn Phillips and corner Jartavius Martin each have two picks.
“One more takeaway would have been the difference in that game (against USF),” Smith said. “We’re not there yet, but hopefully we’ll get there. We will keep harping on that to get that done.”
