Penn State vs. Illinois Position Grades

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Oct 31, 2015; University Park, PA, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions head coach James Franklin reacts to a play against the Illinois Fighting Illini during the third quarter at Beaver Stadium. Penn State won 39-0. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Penn State finally put it all together in Week 9 and got a dominating performance from both the offense and the defense. The Nittany Lions took over from the start and rolled over the Illinois Fighting Illini to move to 7-2 on the season and remain undefeated at Beaver Stadium this season.

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The game provided relief for the defense, as the Nittany Lions had faced dual-threat quarterbacks in consecutive weeks. Illinois quarterback Wes Lunt plays a traditional style, something that played perfectly into defensive coordinator Bob Shoop’s game plan. The talented defensive line spent most of the afternoon disrupting plays in the Illini backfield.

Penn State showed its muscle on defense and pitched a shutout over the Illini.

Quarterback Christian Hackenberg silenced some of his critics with a second-straight great performance. The performance had to be extra special for Hackenberg, who threw for just 93 yards in the upset loss to Illinois last season.

With the win Penn State has surpassed its regular season win total from last year.

A performance like the one against the Illini will give the Nittany Lions some much-needed momentum heading into the tough three-game stretch to end the season. The coaching staff will be able to pull a lot of good things from the tape and will look to keep it going as the season rolls on.

Now that the game’s over it’s time to look at position grades for this week.

Next: Quarterbacks

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