For Penn State, 'a Lot of Things Have Changed' Since 2021

Up next for the Lions: Illinois and Iowa, echoing their 2021 season. This team, though, is different.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. | The last time Penn State played Illinois was a doozie, but plenty has changed in two years. There’s a shiny new starting quarterback sparking hope in Happy Valley, an overdue increase in size up front and a rushing attack with a pulse — all of which were missing two years ago. Not to mention Illinois has lost seven NFL Draft selections since that game. So Saturday's Penn State-Illinois meeting, the first since their nine-overtime masterpiece, will carry a different tone.

"That’s two years ago, so a lot of things have changed," said Penn State quarterback Drew Allar, who watched the 2021 game as a high school senior in Ohio. "We have a lot of players that aren't here anymore, and same with them. "We’re just focusing on this week’s opponent, this week's Illinois, so I'm not going to dive too much into [2021] and just keep focusing on what Illinois has put on tape these past two weeks."

Illinois upset Penn State 20-18 at Beaver Stadium in a 2021 game that set the NCAA overtime record. It was a brutal offensive showing from both teams on Penn State’s Homecoming weekend, but the mucked-up game flow played into Illinois' hand perfectly. The Illini ran for 357 total yards with just eight completed passes. Running back Chase Brown, now with the Cincinnati Bengals, carried 33 times for 223 yards, a Beaver Stadium record for opponents. Teammate Josh McCray, who still resides in Champaign, ran for 142 yards of his own.

That game began a long campaign from Penn State coach James Franklin to bolster his defensive interior's size. After Michigan gashed Penn State for 418 rushing yards last year, Franklin said his team was "undersized at some spots." "Everybody thinks they're Aaron Donald, and they're not," Franklin added.

This year, Franklin repeatedly has mentioned the "good weight" put on by his offensive and defensive linemen. Left guard JB Nelson said this week he also ha seen a noticeable change when lining up across from Hakeem Beamon, Zane Durant and others in practice.

"You look at Hakeem and Zane Durant, they're two guys that are significantly bigger than they were last year. It's good weight. It's real good weight. They don't look that much bigger, but they are because they put on lean mass," Franklin said. "I just think we're in a good position there where we've got five to six guys that we feel like can all rotate and play to stay fresh, like you hear me say all the time, in the fourth quarter and late in the season."

The first 2021 letdown at No. 3 Iowa, helped by quarterback Sean Clifford's injury exit and backup Ta’Quan Roberson's struggles that contributed to eight false starts, came two weeks before the Illinois game. Without a game-ready backup quarterback at the time, Penn State started a visibly hampered Clifford against the Illini. That piled on top of one of the worst rushing seasons in Penn State history. Keyvone Lee led the way with just 530 yards, and not a single rusher went over 100 yards in a single game.

But this year, as Allar said, a lot is different. Penn State is led by the two-headed backfield monster of Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen, who combined for nearly 2,000 yards as freshmen in 2022. Meanwhile, backup quarterback Beau Pribula has played well in both games to relieve Allar, and Franklin has hinted several times at running an offensive package with Pribula.

"You know defensively, people are watching that and saying that we've got to prepare for this guy because ... Beau has shown what he can do," Franklin said. "Now you start to mix Beau in, in a drive or for a couple of series in a game, and you've got to spend a ton of time on preparing for that. So that's exciting for us as well."

Interestingly, Penn State gets Illinois and Iowa, albeit in reverse, during a back-to-back gauntlet this year. The revenge tour begins Saturday in Champaign, and the Lions host a revamped Iowa for the "White Out" on Sept. 23. 

"It was a long one, but we're excited for another opportunity to play Illinois," Penn State safety and captain Keaton Ellis said after Saturday's win over Delaware. He chuckled at the topic of 2021 but was coy in his eventual response. "Every season is a new season. I try not to look in the past as much, and we're gonna game plan and go out and practice like we normally would. Obviously, you always want to get one back for sure."

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Max Ralph is a Penn State senior studying Broadcast Journalism with minors in sports studies and Japanese. He previously covered Penn State football for two years with The Daily Collegian and has reported with the Associated Press and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Follow him on Twitter (X) @maxralph_ and Instagram @mralph_59.

AllPennState is the place for Penn State news, opinion and perspective on the SI.com network.