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STATE COLLEGE -- The last man on the Penn State sideline slammed his white helmet into the blue bench.
Doug Klopacz is the starting center in the midst of his fifth year of suiting up for games in Beaver Stadium, and he never had experienced anything quite like this.
The homecoming nightmare ended and he walked slowly to the middle of the field, eyes glazed and who-knows-what kind of thoughts running through his mind.
He numbingly shook a few hands of the victorious Fighting Illini and then turned and headed to the tunnel that would lead him to the locker room and eventually toward an entire evening of trying to digest one of his team's worst showings in a long time.
He muttered some things under his breadth and trudged away, his Nittany Lions absorbing a shocking 33-13 loss to an Illinois team many considered bottom-of-the-league material.
His offense was dysfunctional and nearly non-existent.
And the scoreboard looked even worse.
Yet, somehow, those weren't even the worst, most bizarre occurrences in Beaver Stadium on this day.
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The old coach made his way into the postgame media room looking as dejected as he ever has after a performance.
Joe Paterno took his seat at the interview table with slumped shoulders and didn't really seem all that interested in making eye contact with questioners. He talked but was barely audible at times.
"We stunk. I did a lousy job," he said in response to the first question. "I thought we were ready ... but I could make a million excuses."
One of the most blatant would be an unprecedented run of injuries, almost all to the defense.
While it's difficult to remember Penn State getting thumped like this by a similar opponent on homecoming, it's equally baffling to find another time when the team was decimated by so many injuries.
It was bad enough that starters Jack Crawford (defensive end) and Mike Mauti and Bani Gbadyu (linebackers) were scratched before the game. But then, in succession, starting defensive end Eric Latimore, starting safety Nick Sukay and Sukay's backup, Andrew Daily, all left the game.
Then account for talented linebacker Gerald Hodges, who was already out with a broken leg, and backup tackle Jordan Hill, who was limited with a bad ankle, and defensive end Sean Stanley and defensive back Derrick Thomas, both held out again for off-field problems.
You get the idea.
That's about an entire unit worth of players.
"I can't figure out why we're getting so many kids bumped (up), but we're getting them bumped," Paterno said. "But you've got to live with that.
"I guess that's the way it goes every once in a while."
A defense already searching for playmakers and an identity was seemingly crippled beyond repair, at least for the time being.
A run-heavy, one-dimensional Illinois offense responded simply and smartly by slugging away with expected hammer blows into the line.
Yards came in alarming, pile-pushing chunks, making a comeback nearly impossible as the third quarter melted away, Illinois crushing the Lions on the ground, 289 yards to 81.
Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley was forced to use talented but inexperienced players like linebacker Khairi Fortt far more than he wished. He was simply forced to use other backups that he never imagined.
But, "that's no excuse, that's part of football," Bradley said. "We got some guys hurt, other guys have to step up. I thought we actually had a pretty good week of practice and were ready to play."
Then, however, Bradley gave a blunt observation of his young and battered defense:
"I thought at times we didn't fight in there," he said. "When you see the pile going forward, that always bothers you."
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There were still eight minutes to play on a warm, brilliant homecoming afternoon when most of the 107,638 starting rushing for the exit gates.
That alone is an unusual, telling sight.
Soon enough, the Nittany Lions and their coaches would leave, too, with quite a bit of time ahead of them to try and heal bodies and minds.
Maybe a bye is the best thing for a 3-3 team still searching for its first Big Ten victory and a whole lot of answers beyond that.
The Lions will now have two weeks to try and fix things before heading to Minnesota, another outfit in disrepair -- but, at least on paper, a suddenly formidable opponent.
And that redemption project starts with the 83-year-old coach who already was taking heat from fans and national media for putting together a disappointing project, even before this particular collapse.
"This is a gut check for him and for all of us," assistant Jay Paterno said of his father and the entire team.
"He said this is the worst we've played, and he's right," tailback Evan Royster said of his head coach. "Time's running down. When you lose a game like this you've got to rebound from it quick so you can get back on track to get into a bowl game."
Moving forward means dealing with devastating injuries and terminal inefficiency on both sides of the ball.
And with a blowout loss at home to an unranked opponent, that can't help but erode confidence.
Is two weeks enough recovery time?
"It's definitely a different hurt," Royster said. "You think you're at a certain point and come out and lose like this ... it hurts inside."
It's a team at a crossroads with no easy sledding ahead and no one exactly sure of where any of this is going.
A fortnight of planning and rehabbing and working as important as maybe any ever before.
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Frank Bodani is a writer for the York Daily Record/Sunday News. He may be reached at fbodani@ydr.com .
ILLINOIS 33, PENN ST. 13
Illinois 0 20 10 3 -- 33
Penn St. 3 10 0 0 -- 13
First Quarter
PSU--FG Wagner 28, 4:40.
Second Quarter
Ill--Jenkins 18 pass from Scheelhaase (Dimke kick), 14:17.
Ill--Bussey 16 interception return (Dimke kick), 9:39.
PSU--Moye 80 pass from Bolden (Wagner kick), 9:28.
Ill--FG Dimke 50, 5:19.
PSU--FG Wagner 22, 2:49.
Ill--FG Dimke 31, :00.
Third Quarter
Ill--E.Wilson 4 pass from Ford (Dimke kick), 8:30.
Ill--FG Dimke 41, 1:07.
Fourth Quarter
Ill--FG Dimke 37, 8:55.
A--107,638.
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Ill PSU
First downs 23 7
Rushes-yards 54-282 26-65
Passing 155 170
Comp-Att-Int 16-20-0 10-26-1
Return Yards 17 18
Punts-Avg. 3-45.0 6-44.0
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-25 5-41
Time of Possession 38:12 21:48
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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING--Illinois, LeShoure 27-119, Scheelhaase 8-61, Pollard 8-55, Ford 9-47, Golden 1-3, Millines 1-(minus 3). Penn St., Royster 11-35, Redd 4-13, Newsome 3-12, Green 3-9, Smith 2-7, Bolden 3-(minus 11).
PASSING--Illinois, Scheelhaase 15-19-0-151, Ford 1-1-0-4. Penn St., Bolden 8-21-1-142, Newsome 2-5-0-28.
RECEIVING--Illinois, Jenkins 7-76, Fayson 4-32, E.Wilson 2-8, LeShoure 1-32, Ford 1-4, McGee 1-3. Penn St., Brackett 4-35, Moye 3-106, Zug 1-18, Redd 1-8, Smith 1-3.
