Drew Allar struggles, Penn State football defense saves the day vs. Illinois

Nearly every time Illinois quarterback Luke Altmyer threw, a Penn State football defender blanketed his receivers.

He kept throwing at them anyway.

Penn State produced its best game-changing effort on defense this season, lifting up its struggling offense in lockdown fashion in Saturday's 30-13 victory in Champaign, Illinois.

The Nittany Lion defense kept bailing out struggling rookie quarterback Drew Allar and sputtering run game with five turnovers − including four interceptions.

That was something, at least, on an otherwise uninspiring performance in the Lions' first Big Ten and road game of the season.

Here are three things we learned in Penn State's pullaway victory:

Penn State football QB Drew Allar must learn, grow

The phenom, new starting quarterback struggled more than ever so far at Penn State against this Illinois defense.

He missed an open KeAndre Lambert-Smith for a long touchdown early. He rushed and overthrew receivers, including one play that could have/should have been his first college interception.

He looked a bit frustrated at times in his first road game as a Nittany Lion leader.

After completing better than 78 percent of his passes through his first two starts, he completed only 16-of-33 (48 percent) for 208 yards without a touchdown.

The best thing? He never really became flustered at any point and did not turn the ball over. He exited after three quarters.

Penn State defense is alive and well

The Lions' vaunted defense did little to excite in its easy opening victories.

It didn't produce a turnover until halfway through the Delaware victory. Its edge rushers were mostly quiet.

But they all came out firing with more focus, unity and with stunning pass coverage from beginning to end Saturday. While they didn't pressure QB Luke Altmyer consistently early, their defensive backs were up to the challenge when he threw.

They intercepted him four times through three quarters, getting big plays from someone different each time. Cornerbacks Daequan Hardy and Johnny Dixon had great man coverage in place in their big plays near the sideline.

Defensive end Adisa Isaac played his best yet with four tackles (one behind scrimmage) and former walk-on Dom DeLuca forced a turnover in consecutive games with an early hit and fumble.

Penn State run game must get fixed soon

Through three quarters, Penn State's 6-foot-5 quarterback led the team in rushing.

That's a really bad sign.

All-star tailbacks Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen never truly got untracked once more, for the third time this season. Consider that Singleton's 16-yard score late marked his longest run of the season.

Blocking certainly seems to be an issue, whether up front, even with All-America candidate Olu Fashanu, or from the tight ends and receivers.

Singleton and Allen are running harder than during their breakout freshmen season but just have not had enough room to operate through three games.

They combined for a pedestrian 91 rushing yards Saturday, averaging about 4 yards per try.

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Frank Bodani covers Penn State football for the York Daily Record and USA Today Network. Contact him at fbodani@ydr.com and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @YDRPennState.