Illinois Falls to Penn State 35-7 in Conference Opener

Matt McGloin threw for 211 yards and a touchdown and ran for two more scores to lead Penn State to a 35-7 win over Illinois Saturday in the schools' Big Ten opener.

Sophomore running back Zach Zwinak added 100 yards and two touchdowns for Penn State (3-2) and the Nittany Lions forced three turnovers and held the Illini (2-3) scoreless for the first 34 minutes.

Linebacker Mike Mauti intercepted Illini quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase twice.

The second came near midfield late in the third quarter as Scheelhaase tried to rally the Illini. Mauti's pick instead set up a 1-yard touchdown run by Zwinak with 14:03 left in the game that sealed the win.

Illinois Coach Tim Beckman simply said 'they 'have to get better.'

"As we spoke to them in the locker room, it's time to step up, see what you're all about, and move forward," he said.  "We've got to.  That's one of the things that we've got to do as a football team, and as a coaching staff.  We can't turn the football over, we've got to move the football better, we've got to tackle, and do the things that we feel are necessary for us to be successful.  We're just not getting those done the last two weeks."

Scheelhaase finished with 270 passing yards, going 28 of 46. Receiver Lankford had seven catches for a game-high 104 yards.

Illinois is back on the road next Saturday, October 6 to take on the Wisconsin Badgers.