Penn St. Pincer
October 23, 2005 4:00 PM
The opening kickoff.
The disturbing events at Memorial Stadium last night made clear that Illinois Football's downward spiral has yet to level off. After two rough outings on the road and two weeks to prepare, this was supposed to be the Illini's big nationally-televised opportunity to prove they could be competitive against a tough Big Ten foe and that the worse was behind them.
Far from it. Once UI took a 3-0 lead on the opening drive, Penn St. did what they pleased—period. The Nittany Lions' towering lines and blistering skill players pounded, out-juked, and out-ran the overmatched blue jerseys. Illinois' defense helped out by consistently blowing coverage to such a degree that often there was no one within a 10-yard radius of the intended PSU receiver. The offensive could barely muster a 1st down.
Penn St. neatly collected 4 TDs in each quarter of the first half for a 56-3 halftime lead, and the fans began an early jailbreak for the exits. Joe Paterno called off the charge in the 2nd half. When the clock finally hit 0:00 reliable estimates put the remaining crowd at around 3,000.
The final score of 63-10 marked the second consecutive home game that an opponent has scored a record amount of points at Memorial Stadium. 56 points was the most ever scored in a half by Penn St. There were probably a handful of other records that went down.
Last night's crowd of 52,633 was the highest all year, surpassing the MSU game (51,469). 2005 average attendance thus far (50,873) is slightly above the 2004 average (48,626). There are two games left. Fun fact — UI needs to average at least 44,132 over the final two games to stay above last year's average.
Looking ahead, 3 out of Illinois' final 4 opponents (including next week—Wisconsin) have only 1 loss in conference.
More photos:
The debacle at halftime.
The exits jam early in the third quarter.
The flyover for the National Anthem.
Filed under: Illini Football, Illinois Loyalty Photos, Penn State Nittany Lions
