Williams stars as Penn St. beats Illinois
By GENARO C. ARMAS
AP SPORTS WRITER
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) _
Derrick Williams came to Penn
State in 2005 as one of the most
hyped recruits Joe Paterno had
ever lured to Happy Valley.
For the past three years,
Williams hasn't quite lived up to
his advance billing.
On Saturday night against No.
22 Illinois, the speedy senior put
on a show like no Nittany Lion
has ever done during Paterno's
43-year tenure.
Williams caught a touchdown
pass, ran for a TD and returned
a kick 94 yards for another
score as the 12th-ranked Nittany
Lions (5-0, 1-0) stayed unbeaten
with a 38-24 win. It was the
first time that trifecta had been
accomplished by a Penn State
player under Patemo.
"This is the first time he's really
had a chance to break out,"
Paterno said. "Derrick's been in
tough games and made big plays
He's a heck of an athlete."
We are ... Penn. State!
Arrelious Benn caught
touchdown passes of 54 and
33 yards from Juice Williams,
who finished 13-of-24 passing
for 183 yards. He also threw
an interception, one of several
mistakes that held back the Illini
(2-2, 0-1).
Evan Royster had 19 carries for
139 yards rushing, and Daryll
Clark threw for two scores and
181 yards, and ran for another.
But it was Derrick Williams who
was the biggest star in tough test
for the Nittany Lions, finishing
with 241 all-purpose yards.
The humble receiver has had
a solid career at Penn State,
though he hasn't had the
breakthrough game that many
fans expected following his
tantalizing freshman year in
2005. That's when he and fellow
receivers Jordan Norwood and
Deon Butler, who have been
nicknamed the "Smurfs," added
a dose of big-play ability to
what had been a vanilla Penn
State offense and helped the the
Nittany Lions win the Big Ten.
?;~ < 9 ;
~~~ s
~>:~>;;
Williams dazzled on Saturday a crowd-pleaser, taking the to his teammates.
night. ensuing kickoff 94 yards for a "Oh yeah, it was definitely a big
Matt Eller hit a 42-yard field touchdown to put the Nittany
goal to pull Illinois within 24- Lions ahead by 14.
17 before Williams pulled off Williams deflected his attention
o courtesy
Please see ILLINOIS
on page 20