Penn State Football: Blitz Stickers from Nittany Lions’ win over Illinois

In addition to a blitz sticker, the workhorse of the night award goes to running back Miles Sanders. No Penn State fan will ever forget Saquon Barkley, but Sanders is showing there is not much drop off for the Penn State ground game.

Sanders carried the ball 22 times for 200 yards for a whopping 9.1 yards per carry average. He found the end zone three times on the night. He even had a touchdown pass to Trace McSorley called back because of an illegible player downfield penalty.

Sanders remained calm on a night where Penn State struggled on defense and Illinois was in it for most of three quarters. After Illinois took the lead on their first drive of the second half, the Lions marched down the field on a drive featuring all runs by Sanders, capped by his 48-yard burst to pay dirt. Penn State took the lead by four and never looked back.

Sanders has already surpassed his combined rushing totals from his first two seasons. He has 495 yards, five touchdowns and is averaging seven yards per carry.

There were questions before the season of whether Sanders was ready to take the load of the carries. There is no question anymore. Offensive coordinator Ricky Rahne needs to keep feeding Sanders the ball as much as possible. He is ready to be one of the top running backs in the Big Ten.