You almost had to feel a little sorry for the Illini having been subjected to the punishing Penn State attack on Saturday. Once again the rest of the country swooned over Penn State’s White House (White Out! White Out! Sue me twice Coyotes!) while Lion fans went through business as usual intimidating the Illini. At one point Lisa on the sidelines for ESPN claimed she couldn’t even think standing on the field across from the student section.

How exciting was it for the Lion faithful to finally see a team that has the galls to respond to each and every score by the Illini? And we’re not talking about field goal responses either. This is Penn State in HD, we retaliate with touchdowns! Both times in the first quarter, when the Illini (who had 2 weeks to prepare for this game by the way) scored in their first two possessions, Penn State responded at will by scoring touchdowns of their own including what I would deem the real game changer.

It was the play of the game that tied the Illini at 14 points and the Lions never trailed again the rest of the game.

{PSUIllinois}The Spread HD with Williams and Clark in the backfield

{PSUIllinois}

{PSUIllinois}The play unfolds with Williams sprinting to the right of the field

{PSUIllinois}And before you know it Williams is sprinting down the sidelines almost wide open

{PSUIllinois}And the rest is history. Penn State never looked back and Illinois never had a chance the rest of the game.

What a throw by Daryll and what a route by Williams. Williams begins by dashing to the right of the field on a wheel route with the linebacker cheating forward thinking it would be a quarterback keeper or a halfback handoff. Unfortunately by the time he sense Williams dashing by him down the sidelines, its too late for him to adjust and a wide open Williams scores the game tying touchdown.

This is the first time this decade I actually feel excited about going on the road to Purdue, Wisconsin and Ohio State. This team can throw punch for punch with almost anybody. Don’t forget that the Illini almost went toe to toe with Missouri in their season opener. With Wisconsin almost one dimensional, scoring the way we do will make things extremely tough for a Wisconsin team not built to play catch-up.

As for the Buckeyes and Pryor, if the Lions can slow down a veteran scrambler like Juice, Pryor can also be contained. But that’s just the kool-aid talking.

Is it just me or do you get the sense that this team can actually perform on the road? Who knew the loss of Morelli would be the best thing to happen to this team?

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