On Saturday afternoon, the longest played game in NCAA FBS history took place in University Park, Pennsylvania. The Illinois Fighting Illini and Penn State Nittany Lions went to nine overtimes before the Illini football team finally pulled off the upset over the No. 7-ranked Nittany Lions, in perhaps one of the craziest games we’ll ever see.
Regulation concluded with the score nodded up at 10, and the offensive struggle carried into overtime. However, despite several opportunities, the game somehow ended in a 20-18 score, falling well short of Tipico Sportsbook’s over/under of 45.5 total points.
Both defenses dominated this afternoon. Penn State’s defense forced the Illini offense into two fumbles and an interception during regulation but could only turn the takeaways into three points. The Illinois defense was equally as impressive, holding the Nittany Lions to just 10 points in regulation.
The over-under in Penn State vs Illinois was 45.5. They played nine overtimes. And if they’d scored another touchdown, they still would have been under. — Dan
— Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz (@LeBatardShow) October 23, 2021
Perhaps the Nittany Lions’ best chance at victory came in the very first overtime when Penn State defensive back Jaquan Brisker dropped a game-winning interception, which allowed Illinois to kick a field goal and send the same to a second overtime.
Much more chaos would ensue throughout the remaining overtimes, including failed runs, errant passes and a multitude of dropped two-point conversion passes that would have either ended the game or given one team the lead.
Ultimately, Illini backup quarterback Brandon Peters found Casey Washington open in the back of the endzone to give Illinois the 20-18 win in the ninth overtime.
ILLINOIS UPSETS NO. 7 PENN STATE IN THE NINTH OVERTIME‼️
That’s the most overtimes in FBS history 😳 pic.twitter.com/uKlOg9Sd6j
— ESPN (@espn) October 23, 2021
It’s hard to imagine that we’ll ever see another game in which nine overtimes isn’t enough to reach the points total.
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