MADISON, Wis. — Chase Brown rushed for 129 yards, Tommy DeVito had three short touchdown keepers and Illinois trounced Wisconsin 34-10 on Saturday to give coach Bret Bielema a triumphant return to Camp Randall Stadium.

Illinois (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) scored 17 points off Wisconsin turnovers and scored the game’s final 27 points to win as a 61/2-point underdog. The Illini sacked Graham Mertz six times and held the Badgers to 2 yards rushing on 24 carries.

Bielema had gone 68-24 in seven years as Wisconsin’s coach before leaving for Arkansas at the end of the 2012 regular season as the Badgers were preparing for a Rose Bowl appearance. Wisconsin won at least a share of the Big Ten title each of his last three seasons.

He was fired at Arkansas in 2017 after going 29-34 and took over Illinois’ program in December 2020. The Badgers won 24-0 at Illinois last season, but this was the first time Bielema had faced Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium.

Bielema was the first coach to take an opposing Big Ten team to a school he coached to a Big Ten title since John Pont coached Northwestern in a 1973 game at Indiana. Pont had led Indiana to a share of the 1967 Big Ten crown.

Bielema received a smattering of boos when his name was announced in the pregame introductions, though the stands were less than 20% full at that point about half an hour before the 11 a.m. local time kickoff.

A much larger crowd showed significantly more displeasure as the Badgers got dismantled for a second straight week. Wisconsin (2-3, 0-2) was coming off a 52-21 loss at No. 3 Ohio State.Illinois took a 14-10 halftime lead by scoring a pair of touchdowns after intercepting Graham Mertz passes in Wisconsin territory. The Illini broke the game open by outscoring Wisconsin 17-0 in the third quarter, including a 49-yard touchdown run by Brown.

Brown, who entered the day with a Football Bowl Subdivision-leading 151 yards rushing per game, produced his sixth straight 100-yard performance. Wisconsin’s Braelon Allen, who had been ranked fifth among all FBS players with 124.3 yards rushing per game, had just 2 yards on 7 carries.

Penn State 17, Northwestern 7: Nick Singleton had 21 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown, Penn State’s defense forced three turnovers and the No. 11 Nittany Lions outlasted Northwestern 17-7 on Saturday.

Sean Clifford completed 10 of 20 passes for 140 yards with a touchdown and Kaytron Allen added 86 rushing yards on 21 carries to help Penn State (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) stay unbeaten heading into an off week.

Both teams struggled early, combining for six turnovers in the first half after heavy rain drenched Beaver Stadium just before kickoff.

Penn State coughed up the ball twice on its first three drives. Xander Mueller recovered a Singleton fumble and Bryce Gallagher intercepted Clifford, but Penn State’s defense kept the Wildcats (1-3, 1-1) from taking advantage.