Revenge of Lions

When Illinois coaches were criticized for setting up shop near Penn State’s campus last summer to see if any Nittany Lions were interested in transferring, Michael Mauti was their most vocal critic. The Illini were hardly the only team looking, but Mauti singled out Illinois, saying he had a problem with anyone who would ‘‘steal’’ the Nittany Lions’ players in the wake of Penn State’s child-sex scandal and NCAA sanctions. On Saturday, the senior linebacker backed up that talk with six tackles and a pair of game-changing interceptions that Penn State (3-2) turned into a 35-7 road win to open Big Ten play. ‘‘It was sweet, that’s what it was,’’ Mauti said. ‘‘We haven’t forgotten about what happened in the summer. Yeah, to be honest with you we had that in the back of our minds and that kept us going.’’

Hog slaughter

Johnny Manziel threw for a school-record 453 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to lead host Texas A&M over Arkansas, 58-10, for the Aggies’ first Southeastern Conference win. The Razorbacks were done in by a porous pass defense and three turnovers, as their once-promising season continued to crumble with a fourth straight loss. Arkansas (1-4, 0-2) led, 10-7, after one quarter before the Aggies (3-1, 1-1) scored 51 straight points to take the lead and cruise to the win.

Gloom on the Hudson