The Penn State defense didn’t have its best effort on Friday night against Illinois. The first half of the game was very reminiscent of the first half against the Pittsburgh Panthers, allowing nearly 200 yards of rushing in the first half. The tackling was piss-poor to say the least, with multiple defenders missing tackles. The defense did get it together in the second half like it has all season, but there is still a lot of work to do all the way around.
The most disheartening defensive takeaway however may be the ongoing regression of John Reid.