College Football
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Illinois 16, Penn State 14
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, November 22, 2014
Where: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois
Temperature: 50°
Head Official: Todd Geerlings
Attendance: 35172

Illinois 16, Penn State 14: David Reisner kicked three field goals, including a game-winning 36-yarder with eight seconds remaining, as the host Fighting Illini kept their bowl hopes alive.

Senior Reilly O'Toole came off the bench in the second quarter to complete 18-of-25 passes for 157 yards and a touchdown for Illinois (5-6, 2-5). Freshman Mike Dudek caught 11 passes for 115 yards and Donovonn Young rushed for 62 yards on 14 carries for the Illini, who need a win next Saturday at Northwestern to become bowl-eligible.

Akeel Lynch rushed for a game-high 137 yards and a touchdown for Penn State (6-5, 2-5). Quarterback Christian Hackenberg completed 8-of-16 passes for 93 yards and a touchdown as the Nittany Lions finished with only 265 yards in total offense.

Penn State dominated most of the first half, taking an early 7-0 lead on a 18-yard touchdown pass from Hackenberg to Chris Godwin and held the Illini to minus-3 yards rushing in the first quarter. But an offside penalty when Illinois lined up to punt on fourth-and-4 on its own 38 kept an Illini drive alive, and O'Toole hit tight end Matt LaCosse with a 1-yard touchdown pass eight plays later to tie the game 7-7 at halftime.

Illinois recovered the second-half kickoff, which hung up in a stiff breeze, at the Penn State 28 and took a 10-7 lead on a 28-yard field goal by Reisner. After Lynch broke loose for a 47-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to put the Nittany Lions back up, Reisner, who connected on a 25-yarder to cut the lead to 14-13 and was wide left on a 50-yarder with 3:29 remaining, curled the game-winner inside the right upright to win it.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Illinois won despite going just 2-of-16 on third down attempts. ... Penn State RB Bill Belton, who entered the game with a team-leading 509 yards rushing, finished with six yards on six carries and left the game early in the second quarter with a left shoulder injury. ... Lynch had his second straight 100-yard rushing game and the fourth of his career.
Top Game Performances
Rushing
Penn State   Illinois
Akeel Lynch Player Donovonn Young
28 Attempts 14
137 Yards 62
4.9 Avg Yards 4.4
1 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Receiving
Penn State   Illinois
Akeel Lynch Player Mike Dudek
2 Receptions 11
35 Yards 115
17.5 Avg Yards 10.5
0 Touchdowns 0
0 Long 0
Team Stats Summary
 
  Yards Scoring Defense
Team Tot Rus Pas TD FG INT Sck FF
Penn State 265 172 93 2 0 0 2.0 0
Illinois 283 68 215 1 3 0 2.0 1