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CHAMPAIGN, Illinois (Ticker) -- Illinois' climb in the Bowl Championship Series standings continued at the expense of Penn State's bowl hopes. Rocky Harvey ran 13 yards for his second touchdown of the game with 79 seconds remaining as the 14th-ranked Fighting Illini rallied from a pair of 14-point deficits for their fifth straight win, 33-28 over Penn State. Off to its best start since winning the Big Ten Conference title in 1983, Illinois (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) this week made its first-ever appearance in the BCS at No. 12. That standing appeared in jeopardy when Larry Johnson raced 97 yards on a kickoff return with 3 1/2 minutes remaining to put Penn State ahead, 28-27. But Kurt Kittner moved the Illini 80 yards in nine plays in just over two minutes. The big play was a 30-yard completion to Brandon Lloyd to midfield on 3rd-and-10. Kittner hit Aaron Moorehead for 13 yards on the next play before Carey Davis had four straight carries for 24 yards. On 3rd-and-2 at the Penn State 13, Harvey burst up the middle for the go-ahead touchdown. "We showed heart and character," Illinois coach Ron Turner said. "Our guys did not panic. I was trying to get the offense pumped up after they returned the kick for a touchdown, and I liked the look in their eye." "We said to ourselves, 'We won't lose, we will finish,'" Kittner said. "No one got down. The defense did the same thing last week and they didn't give up. A lot of people would have been discouraged, but our team is not like other teams. We came out with our minds straight and settled down." Playing for the injured Zack Mills, Matt Senneca threw two incompletions for the Nittany Lions (3-5, 2-4) before he was intercepted near midfield by cornerback Christian Morton. Mills sprained an ankle in the first half, but Penn State was able to build leads of 14-0 and 21-7 as it sought a fourth straight win. "We tried to tape him up, but he couldn't run," Nittany Lions coach Joe Paterno said of his starting quarterback. "I debated putting him back in there, but I was afraid he would take another hit." After throwing for 700 yards in victories over Wisconsin and Purdue, Kittner struggled. He completed 16-of-33 passes for 195 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions. But his one-yard run sparked a 19-point fourth quarter that kept alive the Illini's winning streak. Freshman Peter Christofilakos kicked field goals of 31 and 30 yards to give Illinois a 27-21 lead, but Johnson briefly halted the momentum with his kickoff return. Penn State opened the scoring just over a minute into the game as Bruce Branch brought back a punt 71 yards for a touchdown. On the final play of the first quarter, Eric McCoo ran one yard to cap a 57-yard drive that made it 14-0. McCoo was held to 29 yards on six carries but had the Nittany Lions' longest completion of the day, a 63-yard TD strike to Tony Johnson late in the second quarter that gave Penn State a 21-7 halftime lead. But the Nittany Lions struggled offensively the rest of the way and must win their final three games to become bowl-eligible. "I'm not disappointed in anybody," Paterno said. "I'm disappointed that we lost the game. ... I thought coming into this game (that) Illinois was playing the best football in the Big Ten. They are a good, solid team." Harvey started Illinois' comeback with the lone touchdown of the third quarter, a 20-yard run with 10:42 left. Senneca was just 6-of-23 for 52 yards with three interceptions, two of which came in the second half. "Turnovers will always kill you," Paterno said. "We had a couple of good field positions in the first half but could not get anything out of it."
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