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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The Big Ten introduced Friday night football games last season, and Penn State had to take its first turn in the rotation with the trip to Illinois.
It's unclear when the Nittany Lions will have to play on a Friday again. Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany was at the game Friday, but was unavailable for comment.
One thing is clear: Penn State will not be hosting any Friday night games. School officials and coach James Franklin are strongly against it, and the logistics of getting 100,000 fans from all over Pennsylvania into State College on a Friday night would be highly problematic.
Going back to last season and including this year's games, every Big Ten team already has been or is scheduled to play at least one Friday game.
The Big Ten's current TV deal runs for six years, and this is year two. So, if the league plans to continue playing on Friday nights, it stands to reason that Penn State would be in line to do so again in two or three years.
There's only one more Friday night game left on the Big Ten schedule this year: Indiana at Minnesota on Oct. 26. Nebraska plays at Iowa the day after Thanksgiving, but that's a traditional scheduled game and not part of the new TV deal.
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Not on trip
Penn State backup running back Mark Allen did not make the trip because of an undisclosed injury. It was reported during the TV broadcast on FS1 that Allen was injured during practice this week.
That left Ricky Slade as the second stringer to Miles Sanders, who handled the bulk of the running duties Friday. Sanders had 375 yards rushing his first two seasons and already has topped that total through four games this year.
Tight end Danny Dalton was not on the travel roster, either. He has three catches for 19 yards this season.
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Costly fumble
Penn State was in position to score on its first possession of the game, but after catching a 21-yard pass, tight end Jonathan Holland fumbled. It was recovered by Illinois. Franklin had praised the Illini during the week for being good at forcing turnovers.
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Illini QB hurt
Illinois played without starting quarterback AJ Bush, who’s injured, so freshman M.J. Rivers got the start.
Bush has had a long journey in college football, beginning his career at Nebraska, then going to a junior college, then Virginia Tech last year and finally winding up at Illinois.
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Lively night
Illinois hasn't had much atmosphere at its stadium for several recent Penn State visits, but things were a lot more lively prior to Friday night's game.
There were live bands performing outside the stadium, with large crowds gathered. Tailgating also seemed stronger than before, especially picking up an hour before kickoff.
There wasn't much atmosphere at kickoff, though, as the stadium of 60,670 seats was only about 60 percent filled.
The Memorial Stadium entrance features one of the great statues in college football, that of Illinois legend Red Grange.
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That's new
The game featured electronic down markers on the field, as opposed to the longtime standard flip markers.