STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State’s Allen Robinson is one of the best wide receivers in the Big Ten, and it showed early against Illinois at Beaver Stadium on Saturday. Robinson caught 11 passes for 165 yards, but the vast majority of them came in the first half.

It was Illinois’ adjustments defensively that kept it in the game. Head coach Tim Beckman said it was the players who were being vocal at halftime.

“You can make calls, but the bottom line is the players making the plays,” Beckman said. “The bottom line is that our players made plays today.”

Cornerbacks Darius Mosely and Jaylen Dunlap, both true freshman, stepped up big for the Illini. Neither of them had good games against Michigan State, but against Robinson and the Nittany Lions, they showed up to play.

“He’s a good player,” Mosely said of Robinson. “Going up against a Big Ten receiver is like going up against some of the receiver’s we’ve got. He’s a good player, but I feel like I go up against good players in practice as well.”

Beckman said he could see why Robinson was one of the best receivers in the conference. He thought playing against Robinson made his team better.

But getting better doesn’t negate the pain a loss causes. And this loss — more than any other loss in Beckman’s tenure — stings because they came so close.

“I do believe that this will be a learning experience and we’re going to get that W,” Beckman said. “It’s going to come and it’s going to come this year.”

The Illini have four more chances to make it happen.

Sean can be reached at [email protected] and @sean_hammond.