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Rapid reaction: Clifford, Penn State fall to Illinois in 9 overtimes
By Luke Glusco
Published:
Penn State tried to go old-school, and got a lesson on how that works courtesy of Illinois.
Sean Clifford struggled mightily after a hot start, and Penn State eventually succumbed 20-18 in 9 OTs Saturday afternoon at Beaver Stadium in a game that was tied 10-10 after regulation.
The teams traded field goals through 2 overtime periods, setting up a battle of 2-point conversion tries. Penn State’s trick play didn’t work as a pass to Clifford wasn’t timed right. Illinois dropped a pass that would have won it. That set up a 4th OT period. Art Sitkowski left a pass short under heavy pressure, leaving Penn State with a chance for a walk-off victory. Clifford couldn’t connect on a pass after side-stepping pressure.
Fifth OT: Penn State runs Noah Cain up the middle and he goes nowhere. Illinois’ Brandon Peters, in for the injured Sitkowski, throws an incomplete pass.
Sixth OT: Illinois’ Peters airmails a receiver in the back of the end zone. Clifford’s shuffle past to TE Brenton Strange gets stuffed.
Seventh OT: Cain’s straight-ahead run gets stopped just short for PSU. A Josh McCray run goes nowhere.
Eighth OT: Isaiah Williams barely crosses the goal line on a jet sweep, extending the ball to get the 2 points. Cain runs up the middle to tie the game.
Ninth OT: Clifford’s pass is broken up. Illinois’ Peters connects with Casey Washington for the 2-pointer and victory.
Penn State opened overtime on offense and converted a fourth down before stalling and settling for a Jordan Stout field goal.
On Illinois’ ensuing possession, Penn State made a key second-down stop with a run blitz and broke up a flea-flicker on third down. James McCourt hit a tying field goal.
The Illini started the second OT on offense, and Chase Brown — who rushed for over 200 yards in the game — got leveled on the first play and stayed down on the field for several minutes. Josh McCray, who was already well over 100 yards on the day, picked up the slack. Penn State’s bend-don’t-break defense forced a short field goal attempt, with McCourt again converting.
Penn State’s second OT possession failed when Noah Cain went nowhere on a 3rd-and-2 carry. Stout hit a 40-yarder to keep the game going.
No. 7 Penn State (5-2) didn’t do enough to advance to a potential top-10 showdown with No. 5 Ohio State next Saturday in Columbus. Even if the Lions had won, they did little to convince their fans that they’d have a shot against the Buckeyes under the lights (7:30, ABC) at The Horseshoe on Halloween Eve.
The relief of seeing Clifford return from his injury quickly gave way to major worry for the Homecoming crowd, which saw an early 10-0 lead shrink to 10-7 by the end of a first half mostly dominated by the Illini. Nothing happened in the third quarter to change the score or the perception on a cool, rainy day in Happy Valley.
If not for 3 turnovers and a couple costly penalties, Illinois (3-5) might well have won in regulation. The Illini possessed the ball for almost 36 minutes and topped the Lions in first downs (25-11) and offensive yards (370-215) through 4 quarters. Chase Brown rushed for 218 yards and a TD on 24 carries to that point.
In fact, Illinois might have been better off running on every play. Artur Sitkowski did more damage to his own team than to the Lions when he dropped back. He threw an interception and lost 2 fumbles while going 7-for-17 for 32 yards through 4 quarters.
But Brown and fellow running back Josh McCray pounded forward again and again behind a 7-man offensive line, a nifty strategy from Bret Bielema just a couple days after the Illini head coach blasted a big chunk of that unit. McCray was at 128 yards entering overtime.
Meanwhile, Penn State’s attempt to get its dormant running game going didn’t produce nearly such gaudy results.
Going against the worst defense in the Big Ten, Penn State finished regulation with 52 rushing yards, topped by Noah Cain’s 31. Clifford, who normally gains positive yardage on designed runs and scrambles, lost 24 yards on 4 attempts — an indication he wasn’t completely healthy or that he was told to protect himself.
Looking a step slow despite the white shoes that went with the throwback Generations of Greatness uniforms, Penn State handed off to Keyvone Lee on 6 of its first 7 plays. None of plays went for 3 yards, and there were no clouds of dust.
Lee gained 20 yards and 1 first down on those first 6 carries, with runs of 13 and 8 yards in the stretch — meaning the other 4 carries netted minus-1 yard. That’s the story of Penn State’s year. The Lions finished the first half with 35 rushing yards — 130 less than Illinois. They added exactly 7 more in the third quarter.
So moving the offense fell on Clifford, as it has all year. And he was not sharp in his return after exiting the loss to Iowa early in the second quarter 2 weeks ago in Iowa City.
After hitting his first 3 attempts in a 4-play, 93-yard touchdown drive, Clifford went 1-for-6 and took 2 sacks over the remainder of the first half. In the third quarter, he went 6-for-14 for 30 yards.
After 2 weeks of drama as head coach James Franklin suggested backups Ta’Quan Roberson and Christian Veilleux were competing in practice for a possible fill-in start, Clifford played from start to finish. He came up wobbling after a sack late in the first half, seemed to be wincing after a couple hits in the second half, and went to the medical tent at least once according to the ABC broadcast.
Illinois totally dominated the line of scrimmage, blasting through various gaps as Penn State seemed to sorely miss PJ Mustipher, its best defensive tackle. Mustipher went down with a season-ending knee injury against Iowa.
Penn State gave up on the run on its third drive, as Clifford connected on his first 3 pass attempts, hitting Jahan Dotson for 11 and then 36 yards and then KeAndre Lambert-Smith down a seam in the center of the field for a 42-yard touchdown.
Meanwhile, Chase Brown and Illinois’ offensive line was putting on a clinic on how to commit to the run and make it work.
Luke Glusco is a Penn State graduate and veteran journalist. He covers Penn State and occasionally writes about other Big Ten programs and topics. He also serves as the primary copy editor for Saturday Tradition.