Week Eight: Penn State 63, Illinois 10

Just unbelieveable. I have never, in all my years of watching football, ever seen one team dominate another quite as much as Penn State dominated Illinois in the first half of their game that saw Penn State go to halftime with a 56-3 lead. Just to put that in perspective, Penn State scored only 41 points TOTAL in their six Big Ten losses last season and only 48 total in their seven losses. Michael Robinson was on fire, he simply looked unstoppable. He found Ethan Kilmer and Deon Butler, multiple times, wide open for touchdowns. Robinson threw for four TD's, rushed for two and tied Harry Robb's record of six touchdowns in a game, set in a 1917 contest with Gettysburg. In all probablility, Robinson would have broken the record with one drive in the second half. Few, if any, starters saw time in the second half. Penn State did not attempt a pass. Both Anthony Morelli and Paul Cianciolo played in the second half. Morelli didn't throw many passes in the game but he did have a very nice completion to Lydell Sargeant near the end of the second half to set up a touchdown. Morelli has a cannon for an arm. Morelli is going to have a plethora of weapons, both at RB and WR, next season. Penn State's offense will be very impressive. Even this early, I'm predicting that it will easily be Penn State's best offensive performance since 1994.

The defense, starters to end of the bench reserves, were all around solid. Donnie Johnson looks like he will be a solid DB in some capacity next season, as does Anthony Scirrotto, who recorded an interception. Even true freshman Devin Fentress made some very impressive plays. The pundits continie to knock Penn State's depth along the defensive line but they were pretty darned impressive against Illinois. A.Q. Shiply leveled Tim Brasic in the backfield for a sack near the Illinois 1 in the third quarter. Shipley has played well on the offensive line this season but it has to be tempting to keep him on defense after an impressive performance like the one he had against the Illini.

Penn State now prepares to play host to 2-5 Purdue next week. The Boilermakers remain winless in the Big Ten after losing to Wisconsin on Saturday. Illinois is the only other team winless in Big Ten play. A game that many tabbed as a very likely loss for Penn State in the pre-season now looks like another tune up before the unofficial Big Ten championship game against Wisconsin on November 5th. Purdue's defense is lousy and Curtis Painter played QB against Wisconsin. I don't know what happened to Brandon Kirsch but the PSU defense will feast on whoever is dropping back for the Boilermakers. I wouldn't expect another annihilation but PSU should beat Purdue handily, especially since it's at home.