TEAM
- Penn State is now 20-5 all-time against Illinois.
- The Nittany Lions are 10-1 against Illinois at home.
- Penn State is now 8-4 all-time in December regular season games.
- Penn State had three plays of more than 70 yards (Wade 100-yard KO return, Clifford to Dotson 75-yard passing TD, Clifford to Dotson 70-yard passing TD) for the first time in program history.
- The Nittany Lions played the latest game in a calendar year in Beaver Stadium history. The previous latest game, prior to the Michigan State game (December 12, 2020), was December 7, 1968 vs. Syracuse.
- CB Sebastian Costantini, WR Jaden Dottin, LB Tyler Elsdon, LB Zuriah Fisher, S Enzo Jennings and RB Tank Smith all made their Penn State debuts. 20 players made their first appearance in a Nittany Lion uniform this season, including 16 true freshmen.
OFFENSE
Team
- Sean Clifford hit Jahan Dotson for a 75-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the game. The play is tied for the 21st-longest play in program history and is the longest since Trace McSorley's 93-yard score to KJ Hamler against Ohio State in 2018.
- Penn State scored on its first offensive play of the game for the first time since September 27, 2019 vs. Maryland (Clifford 8-yard run).
- The Nittany Lions had two offensive plays of 70 or more yards in the same game for the first time since Saquon Barkley (79-yard rushing TD) and Chris Godwin (72-yard receiving TD) did so in the 2017 Rose Bowl against USC.
- Penn State's 42 points scored in the first half are the most in a half since scoring 42 points in the second half at Illinois in 2018.
- Penn State had two passing plays of 70 or more yards in the same game for the first time in program history.
- The Nittany Lions totaled 580 yards of offense, the seventh most in the James Franklin era.
Sean Clifford
- QB Sean Clifford has four career touchdown passes of 70 or more yards after hitting Dotson on a 75-yard touchdown in the first quarter and a 70-yard score in the second quarter.
- Clifford threw for 285 yards, his 11th career 200-yard passing game and fifth of the season. He moves into a tie for 7th all-time for career 200-yard passing games.
- With two passing touchdowns in the first half, Clifford now has 11 career games with multi-passing touchdown halves.
- Clifford's two passing touchdowns also gave him 41 career passing touchdowns to move into a tie for fifth all-time.
- Clifford completed 16 passes and now has 346 career completions to pass Todd Blackledge for 11th all-time.
- Clifford now has 335 rushing yards this season to move into eighth all-time, passing Richie Lucas (1958).
- Clifford has 5,466 career total yards to jump Kerry Collins (1991-94) for seventh all-time at Penn State.
- Clifford ended the season with a 60.6 completion percentage, ranking fifth at Penn State.
- Clifford's 2,218 total yards this season sit 18th at Penn State.
Will Levis
- QB Will Levis recorded his third rushing touchdown of the season and the sixth of his career on a 4-yard score in the first quarter.
- Levis connected with Brenton Strange on a 7-yard score in the third quarter for his first passing touchdown of the season and the third of his career.
Jahan Dotson
- WR Jahan Dotson is the first Penn State player in history to have two catches of 70 or more yards in a game.
- Dotson has caught at least one pass in 29-straight games, dating back to Indiana game (10/20/18).
- Dotson caught a career-long 75-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the game. His previous career-best was a 72-yard reception against Purdue in 2019.
- Dotson pulled in his fourth and fifth career touchdown catch of 60 or more yards with 75- and 70-yard scores in the first half. His other touchdowns are: 68 vs. Iowa, 2020; 60 at Indiana, 2020; 72 vs. Purdue, 2019. The score is also his sixth of 40 or more yards.
- Dotson now has 13 career receiving touchdowns to move into a tie for 13th all-time with Jordan Norwood and KJ Hamler.
- Dotson recorded a career-high 189 receiving yards on six receptions. His previous best was 144 yards against Ohio State earlier this season (10/31/20).
- Dotson's 189 receiving yards rank sixth in Penn State history and are the most in a game since Chris Godwin totaled 187 receiving yards in the 2017 Rose Bowl against USC.
- Dotson has at least one reception of 20 or more yards in eight of nine games this season. He has 26 career receptions of 20 or more yards.
- Dotson is one of eight receivers (nine occasions) to have five 100-yard games in a season and the third to do so since 2000, joining Allen Robinson (8; 2013), Bryant Johnson (5; 2001) and Chris Godwin (5; 2015).
- Dotson has six career 100-yard receiving games to move into a tie for eighth all-time with Deon Butler, Kenny Jackson, Derek Moye and Freddie Scott.
- Dotson now has 1,575 career receiving yards to jump to 17th all-time, passing Chafie Fields, Mike Gesicki and Freddie Scott. He is the 18th Nittany Lion to reach the 1,500 career receiving yards mark.
- Dotson finished the season with 884 receiving yards, ranking 13th at Penn State.
- With eight receiving touchdowns this season, Dotson finishes tied for 11th at Penn State for a single season with Terry Smith (1991), Derek Moye (2010), Pat Freiermuth (2018) and KJ Hamler (2019).
- With 52 receptions on the season, Dotson finishes tied for 17th at Penn State for a single season with Bobby Engram (1994).
Parker Washington
- WR Parker Washington has caught a pass in all nine games of his career.
Theo Johnson
- TE Theo Johnson caught a career-long 23-yard reception in the first quarter from Will Levis. His previous best was a 10-yard reception against Iowa earlier this season (11/21/20).
- Johnson totaled a career-high 42 yards on two receptions. His previous career-high was 14 yards at Iowa (11/21/20).
Caziah Holmes
- RB Caziah Holmes recorded his first two career touchdowns on a 3-yard rushing score in the second quarter and a 1-yard score in the fourth quarter.
- Holmes registered career highs with 77 rushing yards on 12 carries. His previous career bests were 50 yards at Nebraska (11/14/20) and 10 carries at Michigan (11/28/20).
DEFENSE
Team
- The Nittany Lions held Illinois to no points and just 74 total yards in the final three quarters.
- After giving up 198 yards and three touchdowns in Illinois' first four drives, Penn State did not allow the Illini to gain more than 23 yards in any of their next 11 drives, including seven three-and-outs.
Shaka Toney
- DE Shaka Toney registered one sack to reach 20.5 career sacks and move into 8th all-time at Penn State, passing Rich McKenzie (1989-92) and Anthony Zettel (2012-15).
Antonio Shelton
- DT Antonio Shelton forced his first career fumble on a strip-sack in the third quarter.
Brandon Smith
- LB Brandon Smith recovered his first career fumble off Shelton's strip-sack in the third quarter.
- Smith's 3.0 tackles for loss are a career high. His previous high was 1.5 TFLs against Ohio State (10/31/20) earlier this season.
- Smith also had a career-high eight tackles. His previous best was six tackles at Nebraska earlier this season (11/14/20).
Keaton Ellis
- CB Keaton Ellis grabbed his first career interception in the first quarter.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Team
- The Nittany Lions have a kickoff return and a punt return for touchdowns in the same season for the first time since 2017 and seventh time since 2000.
Jake Pinegar
- K Jake Pinegar converted all eight extra point attempts. He now has 136 career extra points made to become 4th all-time, passing Craig Fayak (1990-93).
- Pinegar attempted one field goal and now has 49 career field goal attempts to move into a tie for 10th all-time with Nick Gancitano and Tyler Davis.
Jahan Dotson
- PR Jahan Dotson had a 50-yard punt return, bringing his season punt return yardage total to 197 yards on eight returns.
- Dotson finishes the season averaging 24.6 yards per return, a school record.
Lamont Wade
- KR Lamont Wade returned a kickoff in the first quarter 100 yards for a touchdown. He is the sixth Nittany Lion to have a kickoff return of 100 or more yards.
- The 100-yard kickoff return is the longest for a Penn State player in Big Ten history.
- Wade's kickoff return is the longest since Chaz Powell had a 100-yard return for a score against Youngstown State in 2010.
- Wade's kickoff return for a touchdown is the first for Penn State since Saquon Barkley's 97-yard return against Ohio State in 2017.