CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Illinois dropped its Big Ten opener to #7 Penn State, 30-13, at Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Thirteen different Illini receivers caught a pass during the game. Isaiah Williams led the way through the air with five catches for 63 yards, while Reggie Love III registered a team-high 12 carries for 55 yards on the ground.
Jer'Zhan Newton recorded the Illini's first defensive blocked field goal since 2017, while Ryan Meed tallied the program's first blocked punt since 2018.
The first of the Fighting Illini's two touchdowns came in the second quarter on a Love III 5-yard rushing score, his first of the season and the third of his career. Malik Elzy, who made the first catch of his college career earlier in the drive, accounted for the Illini's second touchdown -- and the first of his career -- on a 19-yard grab in the fourth quarter.
Illinois returns to Memorial Stadium on Sept. 23 to round its non-conference schedule, taking on Florida Atlantic at 2:30 p.m. CT.
Next Home Game
Highlights
Press Conference
Team Notes
- Today's attendance of 49,099 was the most for an Illini home game since drawing 56,092 last season vs. Michigan State (Nov. 5, 2022). Â
- Illinois drew 48,898 in the opener vs. Toledo, and the combined total of 97,997 is the most through the first two home games of a season since 2016 (109,314): vs. Murray State (48,644) and vs. North Carolina (60, 670)
- Illinois' defense forced Penn State QB Drew Allar to throw 17Â incompletions after tallying a combined eight incompletions in the Nittany Lions' first two games of the season.Â
- A season-most 13 receivers caught a pass for Illinois, including nine in the first half alone. It marked the most different pass-catchers for the Illini offense since 14 different players also recorded receptions at Virginia on Sept. 11, 2021.
Individual Notes
- Jer'Zhan Newton's blocked field goal in the second quarter marked the first for the Illini since Isaiah Gay at USF on Sept. 15, 2017.
- Ashton Hollins recorded first-career catch in second quarter on the drive following the Illini's blocked FG. The play kept the drive alive and set up Reggie Love III's TD run three plays later.Â
- Reggie Love III's second-quarter rushing TD was the third of his career and his first of the 2023 season.
- Ryan Meed's blocked punt in the third quarter was the first for the Illinois since Dawson DeGroot vs. Western Illinois on Sept. 8, 2018.
- Freshman WR Malik Elzy recorded the first TD of his career, hauling in a 19-yard pass from John Paddock with 4:21 left in the fourth quarter.
- Freshman WR Kenari Wilcher caught three passes for 51 yards, including a 47-yard reception, the longest pass play in the contest.
Quotes
Opening statement:
"Huge credit to Penn State. They're No. 7 in the country for a reason. As bad as things went in the first half, I thought we responded in the proper way at the end of the second quarter, and I thought we'd come back out and do a continuation of what we did but we just couldn't overcome.Â
"Any time you have five turnovers – four picks and one fumble, it doesn't matter how well you do on defense; you're not going to have success, so we have to do a really good job of cleaning that up.
"I do want our guys to know that there were positives out there. There were good things that happened to some of our guys individually but also collectively. I think our defense was given the ball in bad situations, and they put their foot down and gave up a field goal at best. It was a really good testament to them.
"I thought special teams continued to battle. They blocked a field goal. I like this football team. Three games into it, we're 1-2 going into our last non-conference opponent, so we have a week to get our boat right and play well against FAU. Obviously on the back end of that, having an eight-game conference schedule, we have to understand every one of those games gives us an opportunity to get better.Â
"From an injury standpoint, it was difficult with Matt (Bailey). It's meant so much to him to get back out there, and literally on the first play, he had a shoulder injury that he didn't have when he came back. Isaiah Adams rolled up on that knee again and kind of twinged it. Hunter (Whitenack) came in and did a nice job, and then Isaiah came back in and finished it.
"Got Kaden Feagin involved, and it was good to see Malik (Elzy) make a play in the end zone there at the end of the game on a contested catch. I think we're finding more players, which you need to do as the season goes along.Â
"I'm disappointed, obviously. Our fans made a big deal about this, and it was a great opportunity to show them and get a win for them. We're going to put ourselves in a position to keep grinding and hopefully get a chance to win more games in the near future."
On what led to defensive improvement:
"A couple things. First, after two games, we definitely had to take an inventory of where we're at and what we're doing. I talked to players and their coaches. We all had meetings and things we thought we had to stop giving up, which I think was huge.Â
"The penalties were better. I don't know if we, defensively, had one. My first year here, we gave up just under 500 yards to UTSA and then we gave up just under 560 to Virginia. I remember that time I had a conversation with the coordinator and everybody involved, saying we can't play this way. We have to shut it off.
"There was still a play before the end of the other half today. I wish we could take that one back, but I thought our guys overall prepared well, which is why they played well."
On Reggie Love III:
"Reggie's just been solid since I've been here. He's just got a nice little burst to him. He's patient. He understands. He's got a really good demeanor.Â
"I also liked Josh (McCray)'s response. I know he'd want to take back that play. He just didn't protect it well enough. I was excited to see Kaden and Aidan Laughery get in there. You always like to have a main guy, and then a second guy, but you also like to have three guys that can come in and play."
On guiding Luke Altmyer through a tough performance:
"When we recruit quarterbacks, I tell them, 'For me, as a head coach, it's always gonna be on my shoulder,' so we didn't have a good enough game plan for him to be successful. I obviously want him to take these moments and grow. I don't think there's need for any reasonable change. I've seen that guy play some really good football and do some good things in practice. He really doesn't waver. He's a tremendous faith kid that probably, in that moment, just wanted to make something more than he needed to do.Â
"You'll never be a good football team if you have early-down interceptions. Interceptions are part of the game, and we're gonna deal with it. Early-down football is being efficient with the football in the run game and throw game to give you a chance to play another down, and that's what we have to do."
On switching spots on the offensive line:
"I liked it. I definitely want to build some more chemistry. Personally, I didn't feel like I played my best out there, but it's a step in the right direction for our offense. I know 13 points doesn't really tell you that, but coming out of the gate, we were swinging and we were being physical."
On Reggie Love III:
"He gives us a spark. I told him after the game, I said, 'If we all played how you played today, who would have won the game.' I thought Reggie came out firing, and he had something to prove today."
On his takeaways on the team through three games:
"I think that we have a lot in front of us. We've been in some close games with some teams when we haven't played our best. We turned the ball over five times, and it was 16-7 at halftime.Â
"Knowing the stuff that we've done to put ourselves in a position that hasn't been positive and still being in close games with some of these teams, it's definitely the only positive I think coming out of this."
On Zy Crisler's confidence at guard:
"I saw Zy with some juice. I know he likes playing in there. Just to play beside him and keep it in his ear, telling him, 'Hey, man, you're an animal.' I think that's what I can do for him, and I definitely feel he's more juiced up for sure."
On what it means to have Jordyn Slaughter as the offensive line's sixth man:
"It's huge for us. It's huge for our o-line. Having our sixth man be a six-year guy who knows every position and knows the scheme, it's huge. Not many teams around the country have a sixth man who's played a lot of ball."
On getting into a rhythm after averaging nearly five yards per carry:
"That's the motto. Every carry I get, I feel like I can break it and go. It's just about staying patient, knowing my role, and staying consistent. That's just my mindset. I want to do whatever I can to win."
On the team continuing to fight throughout the game:Â
"In this building, we know the game isn't over until the clock says 0:00. Even being down 9 going into the second half, with the turnovers that we had, we still knew we had a chance. We still went out and tried to fight, execute, and come out with a W."
On the Illini's defensive response:
"We responded pretty well. We were put in some difficult situations, but we were able to get some three-and-outs. We're missing that turnover factor on defense, but I feel like we responded pretty well."
On getting to the quarterback and forcing several three-and-outs:
"It's just Coach Henry putting us in the right spot at the right time and all the guys executing."
On the point of emphasis within the defensive unit leading up to the game:
"We just want to play harder. Everybody's doing their job. We had a couple of mistakes. If one person doesn't do their job, it affects the whole defense. We just talked about doing your one of 11 and just bringing that mentality to the game."
On proving himself in his first season as a regular starter:
"I'll just be me. I know what I've been doing. I will make plays out there, just be the best me out there, and just be the best player for my teammates."
