Penn State Nittany Lions vs Illinois Fighting Illini Match Player Stats On Sep 21, 2018

Junior Miles Sanders rushed for career bests of 200 yards and three touchdowns to lead No. 10 Penn State to a 63-24 victory over host Illinois on Friday night in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill.

Senior Trace McSorley passed for 160 yards and three touchdowns with one interception as the Nittany Lions (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten) scored the game's final 42 points and rolled up 591 yards of total offense. True freshman running back Ricky Slade had 94 yards and two scores, while true freshman tight end Pat Freiermuth, junior wideout Juwan Johnson and redshirt freshman receiver KJ Hamler caught touchdown passes.

Sophomore receiver Ricky Smalling caught two touchdown passes for the Fighting Illini (2-2, 0-1). True freshman quarterback M.J. Rivers II was 17-of-28 passing for 149 yards, one touchdown and one interception while making his second straight start in place of injured senior AJ Bush (hamstring).

The Fighting Illini were very much in the game after they scored 17 consecutive points, taking a 24-21 lead on the first drive of the third quarter. The go-ahead touchdown occurred when junior wideout Trenard Davis took a handoff on the reverse and fired a 17-yard scoring pass to Smalling with 10:36 left.

But two minutes later, Penn State was back ahead as Sanders exploded through the line en route to a 48-yard touchdown run. Then the Nittany Lions scored two touchdowns in a 44-second span of the fourth quarter to begin pulling away.

The advantage reached 35-24 when McSorley threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Johnson on the first play of the stanza. Two plays later, junior linebacker Jan Johnson caught a deflection for an interception of Rivers, and McSorley cashed in immediately with a 21-yard scoring pass to Hamler with 14:09 left.

Slade continued the assault with a 61-yard scamper to give Penn State a 49-24 lead with 9:58 left. He added a 1-yard scoring run with 4:24 remaining, and redshirt freshman Journey Brown added a 6-yard touchdown run with 1:56 to play.

Illinois scored the final 10 points of the first half to trail 21-17 at the break.

Junior Reggie Corbin's 51-yard jaunt set up Rivers' 6-yard scoring pass to Smalling with 6:47 left in the half. Senior Chase McLaughlin kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired to bring the Illini within four.

Earlier, Sanders got Penn State on the board first with a 14-yard scamper with 9:17 left in the opening quarter. Illinois knotted the score on Corbin's 2-yard run with 2:16 remaining.

Sanders scored from the 2 to give the Nittany Lions a 14-7 lead with 12:52 left in the first half. McSorley tossed a 5-yard touchdown pass to Freiermuth with 8:11 remaining for a 21-7 advantage.

--Field Level Media