The third-year starter attempted just nine passes in the first half and was slow to get to his feet after taking a sack on his first series. He handled a light workload early Saturday. “We had other opportunities on offense, defense and special teams that we could’ve made big plays to end the game and we did not,” Penn State coach James Franklin said.Ĭlifford suffered an unspecified injury on Oct. Led by Brown’s 229 total yards, the Illini tied it 10-10 early in the fourth quarter with a 37-yard field goal from McCourt.Ī sloppy fourth quarter gave way to overtime where McCourt and Stout matched each others’ kicks before a string of goal line standoffs pushed the game into unprecedented territory. KeAndre Lambert-Smith caught a touchdown pass and Jordan Stout added three field goals for the Nittany Lions (5-2, 2-2), who ran for just 62 yards and struggled to protect a banged-up Clifford.
“To see our locker room right now is pretty special,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said. The Illini (3-5, 2-3 Big Ten) outgained the Nittany Lions 370 yards to 207 in regulation and battled back from an early 10-0 deficit.
The rule was tweaked this year, with the 2-point conversion possessions beginning with the third overtime instead of the fifth.īullish backs Chase Brown and McCray blasted through wide-open holes and flanked Penn State’s defense for a combined 365 rushing yards and a touchdown and James McCourt kicked three field goals, including 39- and 32-yarders in overtime, on a soggy day at Beaver Stadium. The 2-point conversion shootout format was introduced in 2019, the season after LSU and Texas A&M played a seven-overtime game that left both teams badly beaten up. Others ran to center field to cartwheel or do backflips - surprising energy after a game that lasted 4 hours, 11 minutes. When Washington caught the ball, his teammates piled on him. “I just had to hold onto it for the team,” Washington said. Peters then found Washington near the back of the end zone for the winning completion. In the ninth OT, Clifford’s pass to Parker Washington was broken up by linebacker Khalan Tolson.
8, Isaiah Williams ran one in to put Illinois up 18-16, only to have Cain keep the game alive with a 2-point run of his own. McCray, who had 142 yards on 24 carries, also left and didn’t return after being pulled down and slamming his helmet off the grass.įinally in OT No. Sitkowski - normally the backup - was injured in the sixth OT and replaced by Peters, the regular starter who had been sidelined by injury. Meanwhile, Clifford missed his next two 2-point passes while Noah Cain was stuffed to start the fifth and seventh overtimes. Illinois attempted three more passes that fell incomplete, and Josh McCray was stopped at the goal line in the seventh overtime. Quarterback Artur Sitkowski missed a receiver on Illinois’ first try, and both defense held firm for the four OTs that followed. 9 against Iowa - was wide open near the goal line on the trick play, but tight end Tyler Warren’s pass attempt missed its mark. Quarterback Sean Clifford - still suffering from an unspecified injury sustained Oct. Penn State tried to win it then and there with a variation of the famed “Philly Special” play the Eagles used to win Super Bowl LII. The sides were tied at 10 after regulation, exchanged field goals in the first two overtimes, then began to alternate one-and-done drives from the 3-yard line in the third OT as part of a format tweaked ahead of the 2021 season. The Illini came out victorious in the NCAA’s first ever nine-overtime game, edging the seventh-ranked Nittany Lions 20-18 on Washington’s 2-point conversion catch from Brandon Peters to end a string of goal-line stalemates under college football’s recently rewritten overtime rules.
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