The No. 15/13 Penn State Nittany Lions rushed for a season-high 338 yards Saturday to defeat the Illinois Fighting Illini 35-17 at Memorial Stadium. Stephfon Green had a break out game to act as the sparkplug to the Penn State offense in their first road game of 2009.

It was Green who put Penn State (4-1, 1-1) on the scoreboard with 11:05 left in the second quarter when he scored on a 52-yard touchdown run.

Illinois (1-3, 0-2) responded with an eight-play 72 yard drive, which ended with a Matt Eller 22-yard field goal to make it 7-3 before halftime.

Unlike the previous week against Iowa, the Nittany Lions owned the second half of the contest. They scored four touchdowns on their six possessions.

Daryll Clark scored on two one-yard QB sneaks to make the score 21-3 and then Evan Royster scored on a 15-yard touchdown run as Penn State scored 21 straight points to pull away.

Jarred Fayson caught a 17-yard touchdown from Juice Williams to cut the lead to 28-10. It was the first touchdown of any kind this season for Williams.

The Nittany Lions responded with a Brent Carter 11-yard touchdown run before Williams put together one last drive in garbage time to run for a 3-yard touchdown, yielding the final of 35-17.

Green rushed the ball 13 times for 120 yards and Royster also went over 100 yards with 17 carries for 105 yards. Clark went 17-25 through the air and did not throw an interception. He also rushed the ball seven times for 83 yards.

The Penn State defense, which was without Sean Lee again, did a good job of containing Williams on the ground and threw the air. He rushed 20 times for 58 yard and was 20-36 with an interception. The pick was the first of true freshman Stephon Morris’s career.

Arrelious Benn caught five passes for 96 yards to lead the Illini.

The Nittany Lions finish off their non-conference schedule when they face Eastern Illinois on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Illinois will be looking for their first Big Ten win when they travel to Michigan State next week.