| 2021 Illinois vs. Penn State football game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conference game | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date | October 23, 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Season | 2021 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stadium | Beaver Stadium | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Location | University Park, Pennsylvania | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favorite | Penn State by 24.5 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Referee | Reggie Smith | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 105,001 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Network | ABC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Announcers | Bob Wischusen (play-by-play) Dan Orlovsky (analyst) Kris Budden (sideline) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The 2021 Illinois vs. Penn State football game was a regular-season college football game played on October 23, 2021, at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. The Big Ten Conference matchup featured the Illinois Fighting Illini and the seventh-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions, and took place during week eight of the 2021 FBS football season. The game was scheduled as a 12:00 p.m. EDT kickoff, and broadcast by ABC. Illinois defeated Penn State, 20–18, to win the contest after a record nine overtimes.
The two teams entered the game on quite different trajectories. Illinois, led by first-year head coach Bret Bielema, came into the game with a 2–5 record; after a season-opening win against Nebraska, they entered a four-game skid which ended with a defeat of Charlotte, and they arrived in Happy Valley following a shutout loss against Wisconsin followed by a bye week. Penn State, meanwhile, began their season with five straight wins, with two coming over ranked teams – No. 12 Wisconsin and No. 22 Auburn. Led by eighth-year head coach James Franklin, the Nittany Lions entered the game coming off of a bye week as well, with their lone loss (at No. 3 Iowa) coming the week prior.
The game was low-scoring throughout, with the predicted over–under set at 46.5 points. The game's first points came with nine seconds to play in the opening quarter, with Sean Clifford finding KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a long touchdown pass. The Nittany Lions scored a field goal to increase their lead to ten early in the second quarter, with Illinois responding by way of an eight-minute touchdown drive, narrowing Penn State's lead to three at halftime. The third quarter passed with no scoring, as both teams missed a field goal attempt, and a 37-yard Illinois field goal on their opening drive of the fourth quarter tied the game at ten. Both teams traded field goals in the first and second overtimes; the third overtime began an alternating series of two-point conversions in lieu of drives beginning at the 25-yard-line (as per newly instituted rules by the NCAA, which moved mandatory conversion attempts from the fifth overtime to the third overtime). Each team failed their conversions in each of the third through seventh overtimes, with both teams converting in the eighth. Illinois converted in the ninth overtime after Penn State failed in their attempt, giving Illinois a two-point victory.