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Penn State does it with defense against Illinois

Oct 21, 2006 - 8:44 PM STATE COLLEGE, Pennsylvania (Ticker) -- Penn State still has issues on offense to be resolved but the Nittany Lion defense is just fine.

Cornerback Tony Davis scored on a fumble recovery and the Penn State defense kept Illinois out of the end zone as the Nittany Lions posted a 26-12 victory in a Big Ten Conference matchup.

Safety Anthony Scirrotto had a pair of interceptions and returned an onside kick 29 yards for a TD with 1:14 to play to cap the scoring.

Penn State (5-3, 2-2 Big Ten) was coming off a 17-10 loss to No. 2 Michigan in a game in which the defense played well but the offense could not get anything going.

Not much changed Saturday as Illinois was held to three field goals on three trips into the red zone and Penn State had just 184 total yards and managed only 10 first downs.

Knocked out of the game against Michigan with a concussion, Anthony Morelli threw a three-yard TD pass to Kevin Darling with 7:33 left in the third quarter to give Penn State a 10-9 lead. Davis scooped up a fumble and went in from six yards out to extend the lead to 17-9 less than a minute later.

Jason Reda kicked field goals of 41, 21 and 40 yards to give the Fighting Illini (2-6, 1-3) a 9-3 lead at the half. He added a 36-yarder with 13:35 to play to make it 17-12.