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Sep. 29—STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Illinois vaulted to the top of the national leaderboard with eight takeaways in its first two games.
The impact of two interceptions and two fumble recoveries in the season opener against Eastern Illinois probably only meant turning a comfortable win into a 45-0 blowout. Picking off Kansas quarterback Jalon Daniels three times and securing another fumble a week later was much more significant in a 23-17 victory and the Illini’s first of two ranked wins.
The takeaways have dwindled the past three games. Xavier Scott picked off Central Michigan quarterback Joe Labas three weeks ago in Champaign. Torrie Cox Jr. made one of the most incredible defensive plays of the season two weeks ago to snag an interception in the end zone off Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola.
And that’s it.
A single takeaway against the Chippewas and Cornhuskers was enough. Zero on Saturday night in State College wasn’t when one might have been the difference in a tight, low-scoring game. It was for Penn State, which turned a late Luke Altmyer interception into a game-clinching touchdown in its 21-7 victory in front of a Beaver Stadium crowd of 109,911.
Miles Scott had an interception in each of Illinois’ first two games this season. From his position at the back of the Illini defense at free safety, the redshirt junior has seen a shift in what was expected from opposing offenses compared to what’s actually happened the last three weeks.
“Man, after the first two games teams would put on tape they were throwing the ball down the field, but when they played us it’s just a bunch of Wildcat, weird stuff they don’t really do,” Miles Scott said. “Obviously, Penn State does that, but they weren’t trying to take shots down the field like they did in previous games. We’ve just got to find a way to get takeaways in different ways.”
Penn…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/early-takeaway-success-feeding-current-174800111.html
Author : The News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana, Ill.
Publish date : 2024-09-29 17:48:00
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