PSU sunk in overtime

STATE COLLEGE — Penn State knew the run was coming. Heck, Illinois didn’t even bother disguising it much of the time, often not bothering to put a single receiver on the field.

Student body left. Student body right. The Nittany Lions couldn’t stop any of it in regulation.

That’s how Penn State, a 24-point favorite, found itself in overtime against Illinois on Saturday.

Nine of them.

A game that refused to end finally did with a 20-18 Fighting Illini victory in what was technically the longest game in FBS history.

Thanks to new overtime rules implemented this season, teams are required to go for dueling 2-point conversions starting with the third OT. Given seven cracks at the end zone from the 2 1/2-yard line, Penn State offense — even with the return of still-ailing quarterback Sean Clifford — failed six times.

Illinois was only slightly less inept, finally ending the game when quarterback Brandon Peters came off the bench and connected with a leaping Casey Washington in the back of the end zone to mercifully end the game.

But that the Lions (5-2, 2-2 Big Ten) were even in the situation to begin with was because of issues in all three phases.

The defense surrendered 357 yards on the ground against a one-dimensional Illini offense that mustered just 38 yards passing.

And even still, the defense came up with three takeaways, which the offense converted into just three points. Kicker Jordan Stout hit both field goal tries in overtime to keep the game going but missed a 40-yarder in regulation that might have been the difference.

Clifford was back on the field after being injured in the second quarter against Iowa two weeks earlier. But the offense never snapped out of its malaise from Iowa City.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith took a strike 42 yards to the house in the first quarter, and Penn State never scored another touchdown. There was no building off of a 10-0 lead in the second quarter as Illinois controlled the game on the ground.

Chase Brown was the star, finishing with 223 yards and a touchdown. Illinois even appeared to have the lead in the fourth quarter, having two touchdowns on a late drive wiped out by flags, prompting the tying field goal.

Clifford never got into rhythm and was clearly less than 100 percent, never able to use his legs to extend drives. When he tried to take off and scramble late in the fourth on a potential game-winning drive, he gave himself up when a defender neared for a loss of 2. The teams went into extra time tied 10-10.

In nine overtime periods, they combined for just 18 more points.

After the teams traded field goals in the first two overtimes, it incredibly took until the seventh overtime for one to deliver a conversion when Illinois struck on a pass to Isaiah Williams.

Penn State came up with its only success to extend the game as Noah Cain barreled in on a handoff.

The Lions had two attempts come up less than a yard short as a Cain run and a shovel pass to Brenton Strange were both driven down short of the goal line. Strange also had a hard pass carom off of him in the end zone on another try.

Penn State even went with a trick play on the first conversion flipping the ball twice to get it to tight end Tyler Warren, who had Clifford open for the score.

They couldn’t connect. And now the Lions’ College Football Playoff hopes are almost certainly down the drain, especially with a trip to Ohio State on deck.

It certainly feels like a crossroads for the program, which is also facing uncertainty around the future of coach James Franklin, whose name was again mentioned as a top choice for both the vacant USC and LSU jobs on Saturday morning by national reporter Bruce Feldman, who broke the news of Franklin to Penn State back in 2014.

Where things go from here is anyone’s guess.