UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Plenty was on the line Sunday for Illinois.
A win at Penn State would keep the Illini out of the bottom four of the Big Ten. They could also forestall their 20th loss of the season and avoid, for a time at least, setting a new, rather ignominious program record.
So Illinois coach Brad Underwood pulled out all the stops.
He had his team at Bryce Jordan Center for an early morning shootaround. As in before 7 a.m. early, which was more like before 5 a.m. when you factor in changing time zones and the spring forward daylight saving time hit.