Penn State coach Joe Paterno is “concerned but not overly concerned” because his Nittany Lions (6-1, 3-1 Big Ten) are coming off tough back-to-back games against Ohio State and Michigan, while Illinois (2-4, 0-3) heads into Saturday night’s game rested after a week off.
“We’ve played a lot of tough games in the last four weeks, and I have to be careful that we’re not tired,” Paterno said. “If we aren’t focused and make mistakes and turn the ball over, we’ll get licked.
“I think Illinois is a good football team. They have all kinds of formations. We expect a wide-open game on offense, and defensively they’re going to come after us.
“They have a good quarterback (Tim Brasic), a tough running back (Pierre Thomas) and a couple of wideouts (Kendrick Jones and Franklin Payne) who have played a while. [Coach] Ron Zook has been successful wherever he has been. We’re going to have our hands full.”
