CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – James Franklin was still in Illinois mode after his Nittany Lions’ 63-24 circus act at drafty Memorial Stadium. He was interested only in addressing what he saw and not what he will see a week from tonight. That’s fine. We can take one and extrapolate to the other. Judging by what we just saw from the Lions against an Illini team that needed late heroics to beat back Kent State, they are going to need a defensive transfusion bordering on the supernatural. It wasn’t just how Illinois hung in the game and actually took a brief lead midway in the third quarter, it was how they did it. The Illini controlled scrimmage on offense. They blew big holes in the Nittany Lion front. And their backs, especially a 5-11, 190-pound feature back named Mike Epstein who’ll never be confused with J.K. Dobbins or Mike Weber, blistered them…
Continue Reading: Penn State's young defense has to toughen up in a hurry before Buckeyes hit town
