Penn State-Illinois awful overtime game has fans begging NCAA to change overtime rules

Penn State hosted Illinois on Saturday in a game the No. 7 Nittany Lions should have won easily.

Instead? The Illini hung around, sending the game to overtime tied 10-10. Then the shenanigans began.

Each team managed only a field goal each during the first 2 overtime periods, making the score 16-16 heading into triple overtime. Due to new NCAA rules, the game turned into a back-and-forth 2-point conversion contest starting with the third overtime period.

What an ordeal that became, as the Illini and Nittany Lions struggled their way to 9 overtimes. Neither team scored in overtime periods 3-7. Both scored in the eighth overtime.

Then, mercifully, the Illini scored on this play in the ninth overtime to earn a 20-18 victory:

https://twitter.com/FTBVids_YT/status/1452006163432624132

Naturally, fans had plenty of reaction to that game. Notably, many fans and media lamented the NCAA’s new OT rules:

Whoever came up with this new OT rule and everyone who signed off on it should be banned from college athletics.

— Billy Liucci (@billyliucci) October 23, 2021

https://twitter.com/SchutteCFB/status/1452004573091180546

lol this new overtime rule absolutely sucks

— Justin Ferguson (@JFergusonAU) October 23, 2021

Breaking news: NCAA rules that starting in 9th OT, defenses are not allowed on the field (Still 50/50 shot Penn State or Illinois will be able to score)

— Brett McMurphy (@Brett_McMurphy) October 23, 2021

CHANGE THE OVERTIME RULE BACK

We had the greatest overtime format in sports, and they threw it in the trash

— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) October 23, 2021

Who came up with college football overtime rules and why aren’t they in a federal prison

— Jack Williams (@JackWilliaMSU) October 23, 2021

Freaking hate the overtime rule to go to two point conversations after two OTs. That’s a gimmick, not football

— Dan Wolken (@DanWolken) October 23, 2021

The new college football overtime rules seemed bad on paper.

They are worse in execution ?‍♂️?‍♂️

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) October 23, 2021

We’ll see if anything changes moving forward, but this was not a pretty game of college football.

Adam Spencer

Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.