College football: Despite second-half comback, King’s hampered by turnovers

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In the Huddle: A scary thought sits behind the mask

STATE COLLEGE &#8212; The sideline got louder when the starters went out.Penn State&#8217;s win over Illinois on Saturday was already ensured. The zero on the Fighting Illini&#8217;s side of the scoreboard was not.Illinois had a fourth-and-1 in the fourth quarter. Third-string defensive end Torrence Brown blew it up. The Illini then got the ball in Penn State territory after a muffed punt. Parker Cothren and Curtis Cothran teamed up for a fourth-down sack.Shutout preserved. Penn State 39, Illinois 0.And one very vocal Nittany Lions sideline.&#8220;Ohh yeah,&#8221; safety Marcus Allen grinned after the game. &#8220;We were all into it. There&#8217;s no one sitting down or just chilling or whatever. We were just telling &#8216;em, &#8216;C&#8217;mon, let&#8217;s get it, man.&#8217;&#8220;They stepped up. The wild dogs came through in the clutch.&#8221;It was the first blanking by a Penn State defense since the 2013 Kent State game. And the first against a Big Ten opponent in six years &#8212; November 2009 against Minnesota.Of course, the starters didn&#8217;t do a shabby job themselves.In picking up their sixth straight win at Beaver Stadium, the Lions (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) held the Illini to just 167 yards of total offense, 220 yards below their season average. It was the fewest yards allowed by the Lions in six years.Illinois (4-4, 1-3) finished with just 37 yards on the ground. In the third quarter, the Illini ran 12 plays and lost 6 yards.Senior quarterback Wes Lunt, arguably the most productive pocket passer Penn State has faced this year, was yanked in the second half after going 16 of 36 for 129 yards and an interception to linebacker Troy Reeder.An offensive line that had some of the best pass protection numbers in the country, allowing just eight sacks in seven games, surrendered four to the Lions, with three coming with all of the starters still in.&#8220;I think this was the most complete win we&#8217;ve had,&#8221; sophomore linebacker Jason Cabinda said. &#8220;So that was awesome.&#8221;For the first time in a long while, Penn State looked like the Penn State of old, plowing through a less-talented squad and pulling away in the second half.The mood was suitably jovial afterward, complete with senior captain Anthony Zettel, on a dare, donning a hockey mask a la Jason Voorhees for his Halloween postgame interview.&#8220;I mean, I like to have a good time and get a laugh out of people,&#8221; a slightly muffled Zettel said. &#8220;This was a little bet I had with a buddy. So I won it.&#8221;The fun wasn&#8217;t exclusively on the defensive side of the ball.Quarterback Christian Hackenberg was as sharp as he has been all season, evading pressure, stepping up in the pocket and throwing for 266 yards and two touchdowns on 21 of 29 passing.Oh, and he caught a touchdown, too.Yeah. That kind of day.Tailback Nick Scott, a fellow Virginia high school quarterback, took a pitch, ran to the right and watched as the entire defense tracked him.Scott pulled up and threw back across the field to a wide-open Hackenberg.&#8220;I&#8217;m sitting there saying, just don&#8217;t drop it, just don&#8217;t drop it,&#8221; Hackenberg laughed. &#8220;Everything worked out. Great pass.&#8221;The 14-yard score was the first touchdown catch by a Penn State quarterback &#8212; not counting Michael Robinson&#8217;s stint as an every down wide receiver &#8212; since Zack Mills hauled in a pass from Robinson in the 2004 opener against Akron.Lost in much of the hand-wringing about Hackenberg and his regression since Bill O&#8217;Brien left for the NFL is the fact that he&#8217;s turning in a pretty strong junior season.Over the last six weeks, the 20-year-old has now scored 15 total touchdowns (12 passing, two rushing and yes, one receiving). And thrown zero interceptions.&#8220;I think a lot of times people find reasons to be critical (of him),&#8221; Lions coach James Franklin said. &#8220;To me, the most important statistic is touchdown-to-interception ratio. He&#8217;s done a great job of that in our last six games.&#8221;This is despite getting hit as much as he did a year ago. He once again has been sacked as much as any other quarterback in the nation, with the number hitting 30 after three sacks by the Illini.Through nine games this season, he has thrown for 13 touchdowns and just two interceptions, the last one coming on a deep ball against Rutgers with the Lions already comfortably in front.Through nine games last year? Seven touchdowns. Twelve interceptions.For the second straight week, Hackenberg connected with Wyoming Valley Conference alum Eugene Lewis on a pitch-and-catch for a score.Lewis, who had the game-winning touchdown catch a week ago against Maryland, made his first start since the Pinstripe Bowl in December. And after Reeder&#8217;s interception set up a first-and-goal, Hackenberg threw one up for Lewis, who once again climbed the ladder over a cornerback to haul in the score, his second of the season.&#8220;Everybody gets a piece,&#8221; tight end Mike Gesicki said. &#8220;Geno got a touchdown today. Two weeks in a row!&#8221;Chris Godwin also had a touchdown catch while Saquon Barkley (84 yards) leaped from inside the 4-yard line, flying over top of two defenders and landing in the end zone for a score. Mark Allen added a 20-yard touchdown run to give the Lions their biggest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since their 2008 Big Ten championship season.A far cry from the lopsided loss to Temple back in Week 1.&#8220;I&#8217;m proud of our guys,&#8221; Franklin said. &#8220;We&#8217;re getting better. We didn&#8217;t start out the season the way any of us would have liked.&#8220;A lot of people wanted us to panic. We&#8217;re not going to.&#8221;<style>
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<div class="neCaption">Penn State defensive tackle Anthony Zettel (98) had one of four sacks in the Nittany Lions&#8217; first shutout of a Big Ten opponent since 2009. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_zettel-sack.jpg</photo0><caption0>Penn State defensive tackle Anthony Zettel (98) had one of four sacks in the Nittany Lions&#8217; first shutout of a Big Ten opponent since 2009. </caption0><photoCredit0>Abby Drey | AP photo, Centre Daily Times </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_lewis-catch.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Penn State wide receiver Geno Lewis (7) catches a touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Hackenberg over Illinois defensive back Eaton Spence (27) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/web1_lewis-catch.jpg</photo1><caption1>Penn State wide receiver Geno Lewis (7) catches a touchdown pass from quarterback Christian Hackenberg over Illinois defensive back Eaton Spence (27) during the first half of an NCAA college football game in State College, Pa., Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)</caption1><photoCredit1>Gene J. Puskar | AP photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>PSU records 1st shutout since 2013 vs. Kent State</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Derek Levarsedlevarse@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta>PENN STATE 39, ILLINOIS 0Illinois`0`0`0`0`&#8212;`0Penn State`12`3`10`14`&#8212;`39First QuarterPSU &#8212; Chris Godwin 5 pass from Christian Hackenberg (kick blocked), 5:52PSU &#8212; Eugene Lewis 6 pass from Hackenberg (kick blocked), 4:16Second QuarterPSU &#8212; Tyler Davis 42 field goal, 4:16Third QuarterPSU &#8212; Hackenberg 14 pass from Nick Scott (Davis kick), 11:18PSU &#8212; Davis 28 field goal, 3:56Fourth QuarterPSU &#8212; Saquon Barkley 7 run (Davis kick), 13:07PSU &#8212; Mark Allen 20 run (Davis kick), 6:33Team stats`UI`PSUFirst downs`12`23Rushes-yards`27-37`37-120Passing`130`280Comp-Att-Int`17-43-1`22-33-0Return Yards`0`47Punts-Avg.`12-38.1`5-41.0Fumbles-Lost`1-0`2-2Penalties-Yards`8-60`3-25Possession`26:18`33:42INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING &#8212; UI, Ke&#8217;Shawn Vaughn 15-38, Chayce Crouch 5-22, Cameron Tucker 2-18, Henry Enyenihi 1-(minus 1), TEAM 1-(minus 7), Wes Lunt 3-(minus 33). PSU, Saquon Barkley 20-84, Mark Allen 2-23, Brandon Johnson 2-17, Trace McSorley 3-15, Johnathan Thomas 2-5, Akeel Lynch 1-4, Brandon Polk 3-(minus 11), Christian Hackenberg 4-(minus 17).PASSING &#8212; UI, Lunt 16-36-1-129, Crouch 1-7-0-1. PSU, Hackenberg 21-29-0-266, McSorley 0-3-0-0, Scott 1-1-0-14.RECEIVING &#8212; UI, Vaughn 6-33, Dionte Taylor 4-45, Geronimo Allison 4-34, Desmond Cain 1-11, Malik Turner 1-6, Nathan Echard 1-1. PSU, Chris Godwin 7-76, DaeSean Hamilton 4-54, Barkley 3-58, DeAndre Thompkins 2-31, Mike Gesicki 2-26, Eugene Lewis 2-15, Hackenberg 1-14, Polk 1-6.A &#8212; 94,417.</factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Derek Levarse at 570-991-6396 or on Twitter @TLdlevarse</shirttailMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><videoMeta><table style="border:none;width:98%;" class="mceItemTable"><tbody><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoID:</td><td id="videoid" style="width:50em;font-size:90%;"> htC7nlTAWd4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">VideoType:</td><td id="videotype" style="font-size:90%;"> YOUTUBE</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">URL:</td><td id="url" style="font-size:90%;"> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htC7nlTAWd4</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Embed String:</td><td id="videoembedstring" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Caption:</td><td id="videocaption" style="font-size:90%;"> James Franklin talks Illinois shutout</td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Credit:</td><td id="videocredit" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr><tr><td style="font-weight:bold;font-size:100%;vertical-align:top;text-align:right;border:none;">Video Position:</td><td id="videoposition" style="font-size:90%;"> </td></tr></tbody></table>(use the &#8220;for files&#8230;&#8221; link above to associate attached files with this source)</videoMeta></div>

Penn State blanks Illinois, 39-0