Sure, the line was 15 or 16 points. Sure, the money in Las Vegas seemed to be free flowing in Penn State’s direction. So was the Nittany Lions 38-24 win over Illinois all that big of a surprise? Maybe not, but the way that they did it against a talented offensive team like the Fighting Illini served notice to the rest of the Big Ten: We may be the best team. Period. Now try to stop us.

Darryll Clark’s continued improvement at QB and Derrick Williams‘ scintillating game of 108 all purpose yards and three TDs–1 kickoff return, 1 rushing TD, and 1 receiving–lead the Nittany Lions to the victory overall. Penn State, at 5-0, now sits with only Northwestern as the league’s unbeaten teams overall and in conference play. It may not have been up to the gaudy 50+ points per game average PSU had staked through the first four games of the season, but it was enough to again really show that this team can maybe run with some of the best teams in the country and be very, very competitive on a national landscape.

Illinois played admirably but was just simply overmatched. The game see-sawed surprisingly in the first quarter as Juice Williams and Arrelious Benn seemed to be of one mind. However, the momentum of the game and the continued Penn State offensive onslaught was too much for the Illini, who fell to 2-2 and probably out of the Top 25. The Illini special teams continues to be a huge issue as they gave up their 3rd return TD of the year and has been pathetic on coverage for both kickoffs and returns. Williams also threw 1 pick and has thrown at least 1 interception in every game this year.

Penn State now faces a pretty daunting next month or so, traveling to Purdue, at Wisconsin, home against upstart Michigan, and then on the road at Ohio State. If they make it through that little patch unfazed, I am betting the Nittany Lions will be ranked in the top three by that time.