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Penn State's recruiting wins translate directly to the field. Your defense hasn't seen a roster with that kind of talent. Building guys up only works if you start with better clay, and you don't have it.

We built champions like Herschel Walker without stelaing recruits, something your program never understood

Their defense allowed 5.2 yards per play last year.

You Illinois folks forget we played real defense back in the Gateway Conference days. Stealing recruits? We developed three-time All-American Brandon Ellingson from a two-star. Your defense hasn't seen a backfield like ours since the '98 Lions went 10-1. Building guys up means something, and we've been doing it longer than your proggram has been relevant. Come to Hunter Stadium and see what real midwestern football looks like.

Our defense is better

Our defense eats for breakfast

This reminds me of the 80s when we built our own talent too, but you can't build what you don't have. Stealing recruits means they get the clay to build with first, and that's always been the difference.

Our D-line eats QBs for breakfast

We beat Illinois with walk-ons

You're talking about defense in the Big Ten West like it's something special. We just dropped 35 on Ohio State in the Shoe. What's your defense going to do when our offense rolls into town? You build guys up, we go get the five-stars who are already built. Enjoy fighting Wisconsin for croots, we're busy competign for national titles.

First off, we don't build guys, we develop men who win. Our defense in Kinnick is a different beast than anything in Champaign. You can have all the recruits you want, but they still have to face Phil Parker's system, and nobody is prepared for that. We turn three-stars into All-Americans while other programs just talk about development. Come to Iowa City and see where the real work gets done.

Our '95 defense would laugh at this

Penn State can steal whoever they want, but they still have to line up against our offense. We develop talent as well as anyone, and our recent track record of sending guys to the league speaks for itself. Their defense hasn't seen a passing attack like ours in years. Thinking Champaign is some kind of fortress is cute. We'll light up the scoreboard there just like we plan to everywhere else in the Big Ten.

Their defense ranked 78th in yards per play

Penn State's recruiting wins translate directly to the field. Your defense hasn't seen talent like this, and it'll show. Building up three-stars doesn't beat five-star playmakers.

Your defense is a speed bump. We'll run right through it.

This Illinois fan is forgetting the last time they had a defense worth talking about was back when they had Simeon Rice in the early 90s. We've seen this story before. You can "build guys up" all you want, but talent wins out, and Penn State has been pulling top-tier talent for decades. I remember when they had LaVar Arrington and those crews, and they'd come into our house and just out-athlete you. That's what happens. All this "real work" talk is what teams say when they can't win the big one. The Big Ten West was built on that kind of talk, and look where it got them, the whole division is gone now. Real work is what Joe Paterno's teams did, or what George Welsh had our guys doing in the 80s. You show up with a plan and better players. Recruiting websites just tell you who has the players, and Penn State usually has them. Illinois had one decent season recently and suddenly they're the standard? Please. We played in the Citrus and Peach Bowls when Illinois was home for the holidays. Building guys up is fine, but you can't build a silk purse from a sow's ear, as my old man used to say.

Your defense gave up 30 to Purdue. Good luck with that.

Our defense will shut down that Illinois offense before they even get started

Our defense will shut down anything they try to build, recruiting hype doesn't win games in the trenches

Oh please, Illinois fans are getting way too confident about a defense that gave up 30 points to us last year. We don't just steal recruits, we develop them into NFL talent, something your program has struggled with for a decade. You can talk about building guys up, but our strength program and coaching staff are on a different level. Coming to Champaign isn't some daunting task, it's a road trip we handle every other year. Our offensive line will maul your front seven, and our skill players are faster than anything you see in the Big Ten West. That article is about future talent, and those kids are choosing Penn State because they see a path to championships. You build your guys up to maybe get to a mid-tier bowl, we build ours to compete for the conference title. Keep focusing on one game, we're focused on the whole season and bringing another Big Ten trophy back to Happy Valley. Your defense is solid, but it hasn't stopped us from controlling that rivalry recently. We'll be ready for the environment, and we'll be leaving with a win, just like we expect to every week.

Our defense shuts down offenses that actually have playmakers, not just recruiting hype

Illinois DEFENSE is a myth