Sept. 23, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

Season Stats in PDF Format

ABC Coverage Map - Penn State vs. Illinois

When: Saturday, September 27, 2008
Where: Beaver Stadium (107,282)
Kickoff: 8:00 p.m. ET
Attendance: 107,000+ (sold out)
Series Record: Penn State leads, 12-3

Penn State Captains:
No. 47 Josh Gaines, Sr., DE
No. 45 Sean Lee, Sr., LB
No. 7 Anthony Scirrotto, Sr., Saf
No. 57 A.Q. Shipley, Sr., C
No. 2 Derrick Williams, Sr., WR

Television: The contest will be televised by ABC to a split national audience with Brent Musburger, Kirk Herbstreit and Lisa Salters calling the action. The Nittany Lions are appearing on television for the 169th time in their last 171 games.

Radio: Penn State Sports Network (60 stations) Radio Team (9th year) Play-by-Play: Steve Jones; Analysis: Jack Ham Web stream: www.GoPSUsports.com Illini Sports Network (Brian Barnhart, play-by-play; Kurt Kittner, analysis). Westwood One Radio (Tom McCarthy, Bobby Ross). XM Radio.

Coaches:
Joe Paterno
Penn State Record......376-125-3 (74.9), 43rd Year
Overall Record.........Same
vs. Illinois...........10-2
59th year on Penn State staff...all-time leader in career wins among 1- A coaches...300 wins faster than any coach in NCAA history...College Football Hall of Fame inductee in 2007.

Ron Zook
Illinois Record.......15-24, 4th Year
Overall Record........38-38, 7th year
vs. Penn State........1-2

The Series
The Nittany Lions and Fighting Illini are meeting for the 16th time. Penn State leads the series, 12-3, including a 9-2 mark since the Lions began Big Ten play in 1993.

The squads next meet on Oct. 3, 2009 at Memorial Stadium.

This Week

Penn State opens its 16th season of Big Ten competition, hosting No. 21 Illinois in a primetime clash.

The No. 12 Nittany Lions are coming off a 45-3 victory over Temple on Saturday. The Fighting Illini have been idle since a 20-17 win over Louisiana-Lafayette on Sept. 13.