September 21, 2018 Week 4 · Regular Season Belt defended

Penn State defends the belt, 63–24, on the road at Illinois.

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Illinois 24

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Penn State 63

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Recap

Penn State's dominant defensive performance and offensive efficiency carried the belt-holding Nittany Lions to a convincing 63-24 victory over Illinois. Penn State's ground game was particularly devastating, with Miles Sanders scoring three touchdowns including a 48-yard score in the third quarter, while Ricky Slade added a 61-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter. Illinois kept pace early with Reggie Corbin's short touchdown run and a 51-yard Corbin run that set up a field goal before halftime, but Penn State's superior third-down conversion rate (9-11 versus 4-12) allowed them to sustain drives and pull away decisively. McSorley connected on multiple touchdown passes to receivers KJ Hamler, Pat Freiermuth, and Juwan Johnson as Penn State's offense was nearly unstoppable throughout the night.

Miles Sanders' 14-yard touchdown run in Q1 gave Penn State early control of the game
Reggie Corbin's 51-yard run in Q2 was Illinois' most threatening drive but Penn State held to a field goal
Miles Sanders' 48-yard touchdown run in Q3 extended Penn State's lead and shifted momentum decisively
Ricky Slade's 61-yard touchdown run in Q4 sealed the victory and demonstrated Penn State's dominant ground attack

Written by Claude from the box score and play-by-play on this page — a plain-English recap of the numbers below, not a substitute for them.

Full Box Score

Team stats

CFBD box score

IllinoisPenn State

Total yards411591

Rushing yards245387

Passing yards166204

First downs2631

3rd down conv.4/129/11

Turnovers22

Penalties–yards7–818–72

Time of possession30:0529:55

Full team box score from CFBD’s /games/teams data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have team-level stats that far back.

Play By Play

Key plays

CFBD play-by-play

When	Team	Yards	Play
Q1 14:04	Penn State	+28 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Jonathan Holland for 28 yds Jonathan Holland fumbled, forced by Dre Brown, recovered by Illin Michael Marchese , return for 11 yds to the Illin 31
Q1 14:30	Penn State	+21 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Jonathan Holland for 21 yds to the Illin 48 for a 1ST down
Q1 12:49	Illinois	+22 yd	Blake Hayes punt for 54 yds , DeAndre Thompkins returns for 22 yds to the PnSt 30
Q1 9:17	Penn State	+14 yd	Miles Sanders run for 14 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q1 6:09	Illinois	+55 yd	Chase McLaughlin 55 yd FG MISSED
Q1 6:00	Penn State	+20 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to KJ Hamler for 20 yds to the ILLINOIS 43 for a 1ST down ILLINOIS Penalty, Defensive Offside ( Yards) declined for a 1ST down
Q1 3:47	Penn State	+44 yd	Jake Pinegar 44 yd FG MISSED
Q1 2:16	Illinois	+2 yd	Reggie Corbin run for 2 yds for a TD, (Chase McLaughlin KICK)
Q2 12:52	Penn State	+2 yd	Miles Sanders run for 2 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q2 8:11	Penn State	+5 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Pat Freiermuth for 5 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q2 7:01	Illinois	-4 yd	M.J. Rivers II pass complete to Daniel Barker for a loss of 4 yards Daniel Barker fumbled, forced by Jarvis Miller, recovered by Illin Sam Mays
Q2 6:47	Illinois	+6 yd	M.J. Rivers II pass complete to Ricky Smalling for 6 yds for a TD, (Chase McLaughlin KICK)
Q2 7:30	Illinois	+51 yd	Reggie Corbin run for 51 yds to the PnSt 9 for a 1ST down
Q2 0:28	Penn State	+0 yd	Trace McSorley pass intercepted Delano Ware return for no gain to the Illin 44
Q2 0:00	Illinois	+42 yd	Chase McLaughlin 42 yd FG GOOD
Q3 10:36	Illinois	+17 yd	Trenard Davis pass complete to Ricky Smalling for 17 yds for a TD, (Chase McLaughlin KICK)
Q3 10:36	Illinois	+20 yd	Chase McLaughlin kickoff for 65 yds , Johnathan Thomas return for 20 yds to the PnSt 20
Q3 8:36	Penn State	+48 yd	Miles Sanders run for 48 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 14:53	Penn State	+16 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to Juwan Johnson for 16 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 14:18	Illinois	+0 yd	M.J. Rivers II pass intercepted Jan Johnson return for no gain to the Illin 21
Q4 14:09	Penn State	+21 yd	Trace McSorley pass complete to KJ Hamler for 21 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 12:45	Illinois	+20 yd	M.J. Rivers II pass complete to Daniel Barker for 20 yds to the PnSt 34 for a 1ST down
Q4 10:34	Illinois	+52 yd	Chase McLaughlin 52 yd FG MISSED
Q4 12:00	Illinois	-14 yd	M.J. Rivers II run for a loss of 14 yards to the 50 yard line M.J. Rivers II fumbled, recovered by Illin Alex Palczewski , return to the 50 yard line
Q4 9:58	Penn State	+61 yd	Ricky Slade run for 61 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 4:24	Penn State	+1 yd	Ricky Slade run for 1 yd for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)
Q4 5:35	Penn State	-3 yd	Ricky Slade run for a loss of 3 yards to the Illin 46 Ricky Slade fumbled, recovered by PnSt Ricky Slade
Q4 4:45	Penn State	+44 yd	Sean Clifford pass complete to Mac Hippenhammer for 44 yds to the Illin 1 for a 1ST down
Q4 2:46	Illinois	-28 yd	Matt Robinson pass intercepted Ellis Brooks return for 28 yds to the Illin 10
Q4 1:56	Penn State	+6 yd	Journey Brown run for 6 yds for a TD, (Jake Pinegar KICK)

Scoring plays, turnovers, and gains of 20+ yards, pulled from CFBD’s play-by-play. This section only appears for belt games with play-by-play on file (2003 onward).

Box Score

Player stats

CFBD player stats

Passing

Player	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD	INT
M.J. Rivers IIIllinois	17/28	149	5.3	1	1
Trenard DavisIllinois	1/1	17	17.0	1	0
Matt RobinsonIllinois	0/2	0	0.0	0	1
Trace McSorleyPenn State	12/19	160	8.4	3	1
Sean CliffordPenn State	1/1	44	44.0	0	0

Rushing

Player	CAR	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Reggie CorbinIllinois	11	87	7.9	1	51
Mike EpsteinIllinois	13	73	5.6	0	18
Ra'Von BonnerIllinois	4	42	10.5	0	16
M.J. Rivers IIIllinois	10	24	2.4	0	12
Matt RobinsonIllinois	4	17	4.3	0	9
Dre BrownIllinois	2	4	2.0	0	4
Trenard DavisIllinois	1	-2	-2.0	0	0
Miles SandersPenn State	22	200	9.1	3	48
Ricky SladePenn State	10	94	9.4	2	61
Trace McSorleyPenn State	15	92	6.1	0	16
Journey BrownPenn State	2	10	5.0	1	6
Sean CliffordPenn State	2	-9	-4.5	0	1

Receiving

Player	REC	YDS	AVG	TD	LONG
Carmoni GreenIllinois	4	49	12.3	0	16
Sam MaysIllinois	3	26	8.7	0	11
Ricky SmallingIllinois	2	23	11.5	2	17
Mike EpsteinIllinois	2	19	9.5	0	13
Daniel BarkerIllinois	3	19	6.3	0	20
Trenard DavisIllinois	2	17	8.5	0	19
Reggie CorbinIllinois	2	13	6.5	0	12
Jonathan HollandPenn State	3	53	17.7	0	21
Juwan JohnsonPenn State	4	51	12.8	1	19
Mac HippenhammerPenn State	1	44	44.0	0	44
KJ HamlerPenn State	2	41	20.5	1	21
DeAndre ThompkinsPenn State	2	10	5.0	0	5
Pat FreiermuthPenn State	1	5	5.0	1	5

Show more stats (7 more categories)

Defense

Player	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HUR
Bobby RoundtreeIllinois	12	10	2	2	1	0
Del'Shawn PhillipsIllinois	8	4	0	0	0	0
Sydney BrownIllinois	5	3	0	0	1	0
Stanley GreenIllinois	4	4	0	0	0	0
Isaiah GayIllinois	4	3	0	0	0	0
Jake HansenIllinois	3	1	0	0	0	0
Lere OladipoIllinois	3	1	0	0	0	0
Delano WareIllinois	3	1	0	0	0	0
Cameron WatkinsIllinois	2	2	0	0	0	0
Tymir OliverIllinois	2	2	0	0	0	0
Jamal WoodsIllinois	2	2	0	0	0	0
Christian BobakIllinois	2	1	0	0	0	0
Dawson DeGrootIllinois	2	1	0	0	0	0
Nate HobbsIllinois	2	1	0	0	0	0
Calvin AveryIllinois	2	1	0	0	0	0
Justice WilliamsIllinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tony AdamsIllinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Michael MarcheseIllinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Owen Carney Jr.Illinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Kerby JosephIllinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dominic StampleyIllinois	1	1	0	0	0	0
Ayo ShogbonyoIllinois	1	0	0	0	0	0
Kenyon JacksonIllinois	1	0	0	0	0	0
Bennett WilliamsIllinois	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jartavius MartinIllinois	1	0	0	0	0	0
Jonathan SutherlandPenn State	8	6	0	1	0	0
Garrett TaylorPenn State	7	6	0	1.5	0	0
Jan JohnsonPenn State	6	5	0	0	0	0
Ellis BrooksPenn State	6	5	0.5	0.5	0	0
Micah ParsonsPenn State	6	5	0	0	0	0
Nick ScottPenn State	5	4	0	0	0	0
Robert WindsorPenn State	5	2	1.5	1.5	0	0
Cam BrownPenn State	3	2	0	0	1	0
Koa FarmerPenn State	3	1	0	0	0	0
Amani OruwariyePenn State	3	1	0	0	0	0
Kevin GivensPenn State	3	0	0	0.5	0	0
Donovan JohnsonPenn State	2	1	0	0	0	0
PJ MustipherPenn State	2	1	0	0	0	0
Shaka ToneyPenn State	2	0	0	0.5	0	0
Jabari ButlerPenn State	1	1	0	0	1	0
Jarvis MillerPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Dae'Lun DarienPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Tariq Castro-FieldsPenn State	1	1	0	0	1	0
Fred HansardPenn State	1	1	0	0	0	0
Trace McSorleyPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Ayron MonroePenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
John PetrishenPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Brandon PolkPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Daniel JosephPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Journey BrownPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Yetur Gross-MatosPenn State	1	0	0	0	0	0
Shareef MillerPenn State	0	0	0	0	0	2
John ReidPenn State	0	0	0	0	1	0
Zech McPhearsonPenn State	0	0	0	0	1	0

Fumbles

Player	FUM	LOST	REC
Michael MarcheseIllinois	0	0	1
M.J. Rivers IIIllinois	1	0	0
Daniel BarkerIllinois	1	0	0
Jonathan HollandPenn State	1	1	0
Ricky SladePenn State	1	0	0

Interceptions

Player	INT	YDS
Delano WareIllinois	1	0
Ellis BrooksPenn State	1	28
Jan JohnsonPenn State	1	0

Kick Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG
Nate HobbsIllinois	2	27	13.5	15
Johnathan ThomasPenn State	1	20	20.0	20
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	12	12.0	12

Kicking

Player	FG	PCT	LONG	XP	PTS
Chase McLaughlinIllinois	1/3	33.0	42	3/3	6
Jake PinegarPenn State	0/1	0.0	0	9/9	9

Punt Returns

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	LONG	TD
DeAndre ThompkinsPenn State	2	30	15.0	22	0
KJ HamlerPenn State	1	17	17.0	17	0

Punting

Player	NO	YDS	AVG	TB	In 20	LONG
Blake HayesIllinois	4	179	44.8	0	1	54
Blake GillikinPenn State	1	42	42.0	0	1	42

Full player stats from CFBD’s /games/players data. This section only appears for belt games from 2003 onward — CFBD doesn’t have player-level stats that far back.

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