Penn State Pounds Illinois, EIU Drops Loss

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Fighting Illini held tough for three quarters before Penn State used a 35-point fourth quarter to pull away from Illinois, 63-24, Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

It's Tricky to Ricky

On the opening drive of the second half, the Illini pulled off a trick play to fool the Penn State defense. Rivers II tossed the ball to receiver Trenard Davis on a reverse before Davis connected with Ricky Smalling for a 17-yard touchdown. The score capped off a nine play, 75-yard drive and gave Illinois a 24-21 lead.  

The touchdown grab was the second on the night for Smalling and the third of his career. Friday also marked Smalling's first-career multi-score game.
Bobby Roundtree

Defensive lineman Bobby Roundtree was all over the field on Friday, as the Largo, Florida, native came away with a career-high 12 tackles (10 solo). Roundtree also added two TFL's, a sack and a pass breakup.

The sophomore has now recorded five PBU's on the season, the most in the nation among defensive lineman.
Two-Headed Rushing Attack

The Illini offense continued to get a strong contribution on the ground from running backs Reggie Corbin and Mike Epstein. Corbin rushed the ball 11 times for 87 yards (7.9 yards per carry) and a touchdown, while Epstein totaled 73 yards on 13 carries.

Team Notes

    Illinois led 24-21 with 10:36 left in the third quarter after a Trenard Davis touchdown pass to Ricky Smalling.
    Illinois has forced a turnover in 18 straight games.
    Illinois threw its first interception of the season with 14:18 left in the fourth quarter.
    Illinois' 24 points tied last year's season-high against a Big Ten opponent (24 vs. Rutgers 10/14/17).
    Illinois' 24 points were its most against a ranked team since a 60-35 loss vs. No. 3 Ohio State 11/16/13, a span of 13 games.
    Illinois started four true freshmen (NB Sydney Brown, CB Jartavius Martin, QB M.J. Rivers II, WR Carlos Sandy).
    Illinois is 27-6 in August/September home games dating back to the start of 2007.
    The 8:05 p.m. CT kickoff was the latest start for a home game in Illinois history.
    Illinois captains: OL Nick Allegretti, LB Dele Harding, DL Tymir Oliver, LB Del'Shawn Phillips

Individual Notes

    Sophomore DE Bobby Roundtree had a career-high 12 tackles (10 solo), 2.0 TFLs, 1.0 sack and one PBU. Roundtree has five PBUs this season, the most in the nation among defensive linemen.
    Freshman QB M.J. Rivers II started for the second straight game. He was 17-for-28 passing for 149 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Rivers rushed 10 times for 24 yards.
    Junior WR Trenard Davis threw his first career touchdown pass in the third quarter, a 17-yard completion to Ricky Smalling that gave Illinois a 24-21 lead.
    Sophomore WR Ricky Smalling caught two touchdowns, his first two this season. Smalling had two touchdowns all of last season.
    Sophomore RB Mike Epstein rushed 13 times for 73 yards.
    Sophomore WR Carmoni Green had career highs in receptions (4, tied) and receiving yards (49).
    Junior RB Reggie Corbin rushed 11 times for 87 yards and a touchdown. He had a 51-yard run, two yards short of his career long (53 at Rutgers 11/15/16).
    Junior FS Stanley Green forced a fumble in the first quarter, his seventh career forced fumble. He is tied for fourth in Illinois history in forced fumbles.
    Freshman S Delano Ware had his first career interception.
    Senior K Chase McLaughlin was 1-for-3 kicking field goals. He made a 42-yarder and missed from 52 and 55 yards. McLaughlin is 8-for-11 this season, including seven makes of 40+ yards.
    Freshman WR Carlos Sandy started for the first time in his career.
    Senior OL Nick Allegretti started for the 28th straight game.
    Sophomore OL Alex Palczewski started for the 15th straight game.
    Senior QB AJ Bush Jr. missed the game with an injury. Bush started the first two games of the season before leaving the game against Western Illinois in the second quarter.

Tennessee State 41, EIU 40

CHARLESTON, Ill. – For the fourth straight year a big play near the end of the game decided the outcome between Eastern Illinois and Tennessee State.  This year the big play fell in favor of Tennessee State as the Tigers beat EIU for the first time since 2011 winning 41-40 on Saturday afternoon at O’Brien Field.

Eastern Illinois was attempting a 47-yard field goal by Nick Bruno with 1:17 remaining in the game that would have given the Panthers the lead.  Justin Culpepper got a good push up the middle and leaped up to block the attempt sending EIU to 0-4 on the season, 0-1 in the OVC.   TSU playing its first game since the opening weekend improved to 2-0, 1-0 in the OVC.

EIU had won six straight in the series with the last three wins decided by three points or less in each contest including two overtime wins by the Panthers.

EIU opened the contest building a 24-6 lead in the first half as Jonathan Brantley passed for two touchdown passes and ran for another.   Brantley’s touchdown strikes came to Nick Atoyebi from 8-yards out in the first quarter and Aaron Gooch on a 71-yard catch and run in the second quarter.  The Gooch touchdown with 11:55 to play in the first half put EIU up 24-3.    Antonio Zita hit his second field goal of the first half at 6:13 to make it 24-6.

A pivotal moment in the game came late in the first half when EIU’s defense forced a punt and the Panthers looked to make one final first half drive.  Tennessee State then forced a fumble by Mekhi Brown that the Tigers recovered at the EIU 18 yard line.   One play later TSU scored on a Treon Harris pass to Chris Rowland with 19 seconds left in the half.   TSU carried that momentum over to the second half as they scored on their opening drive to make it a 24-19 contest.  DeMarco Corbin scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.

The two teams traded touchdowns on the next two possessions to make it 31-26 EIU with 8:01 left in the third quarter.  EIU scored on a 32-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Johnson.  TSU scored on a Harris touchdown reception from Demry Croft.  Johnson rushed for 36 yards on four carries for EIU but the Panthers run game was held under 100 yards for the second straight week finishing at 73 yards on 20 carries.

The Tigers took their first lead of the game with 7:31 to play in the game as Croft connected with DeVon Johnson on a 49-yard touchdown pass.  Croft passed for 217 yards going 14-of-20 splitting time with Michael Hughes who was 13-of-21 for 114 yards.  On the ground the Tigers had 195 yards rushing to finish with 544 yards of total offense.

Tennessee State’s lead was short lived as EIU had its second 70-plus yard touchdown on the next possession.  Harry Woodbery hit Alexander Hollins for a 72-yard pass to put EIU up 40-35.  The two point conversion failed, one of four failed two-point conversions in the game (TSU failed on three).  Hollins had eight catches for 132 yards as he recorded his seventh career 100 yard receiving day.

Following the Hollins score, TSU marched 65 yards in ten plays to take the final lead with 3:06 to play.  Earl Harrison scored from four-yards out for the game winner.

Both EIU quarterbacks that saw action finished with more than 100 yards passing.  Brantley was 25-of-43 for 288 yards and two touchdowns.  Woodbery was 5-of-6 for 105 yards and a score.

Dytarious Johnson led the Panthers defense with 12 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one forced fumble.  EIU forced three turnovers in the game with Mark Williams collecting an interception; Robert Columbus and Joe Caputo had fumble recoveries.

Christion Abercrombie led TSU’s defense with eight tackles.  Dajour Nesbeth had seven tackles and four pass break-ups.