<body><div><p></p><p> Week five of the college football season is almost here, and this is going to be a good one! After this week, some teams will be almost halfway through their regular season schedule, which is hard to believe as it feels like the season just started yesterday. Week five is going to be a fun one as there are a ton of good matchups, and perhaps the best matchup of the college football season as Alabama will take on Georgia. One other contest that should be a good one will be in the Big Ten as Penn State will be hosting the Illinois football team for a top-20 matchup. </p><p> ESPN’s College GameDay airs live from the campus hosting the biggest college football game of the week, and they will be in Tuscaloosa this Saturday to see Alabama take on Georgia. These are two of the best teams in the SEC, and they are two of the best teams in the entire country. This is a must-watch game. </p><p> Alabama-Georgia is going to be a good one and so will Penn State-Illinois, but there are a lot of other good matchups this week as we are getting into the heart of conference play. </p><p> The ACC has one big matchup this weekend as #15 Louisville will hit the road to take on #16 Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish aren’t an ACC team, but it feels like they are at this point. </p><p> There are a few other intriguing matchups in the Big Ten this weekend to go along with the Penn State-Illinois game. #12 Michigan will be hosting Minnesota in a rivalry battle for the Little Brown Jug. #13 USC will be looking to bounce back from their loss against the Wolverines last week as they will be taking on Wisconsin at home. </p><p> In the Big 12, #20 Oklahoma State and #23 Kansas State have a huge matchup as both teams try to avoid a second straight loss. Both the Cowboys and Wildcats are seen as contenders in the conference, but whoever loses this weekend is going to be in trouble. </p><p> There are a lot of other conference games in the SEC this week, but there aren’t really any worth noting besides the huge matchup between Alabama and Georgia. Week five is almost here, and it’s going to be a fun one. </p><p> When the season started, not a lot of people thought that Illinois would be undefeated and ranked #19 in the country going into this matchup, but here we are. The Fighting Illini have a couple good wins already against Kansas and Nebraska, and they want to add Penn State to their resume. This game is going to be fun. Before we get into predictions, let’s look at where each team is at heading into this matchup. </p><h2><strong> Penn State football has looked good so far </strong></h2><p> This has to be the year for the Penn State football team to break through, and they certainly look like a contender so far. The Nittany Lions have had a few seasons where they were close to winning the Big Ten and going to the College Football Playoff, but they haven’t been able to get over the hump. With the playoff now expanded to 12 teams, they have a great opportunity to make it. </p><p> So far, Penn State has taken care of business as they are 3-0. The Nittany Lions had an impressive win in week one as they went on the road and easily handled West Virginia, but their week two win against Bowling Green was a bit concerning. It was way too close for comfort as Penn State won 34-27, but a win is a win. </p><p> Penn State looked much better last week as they dominated Kent State for a 56-0 win. </p><h2><strong> The Illinois football team has surprised a lot of people </strong></h2><p> How about this Illinois football team? Bret Bielema has a done a terrific job with the Fighting Illini, and he has his team sitting at 4-0 and ranked #19 in the country. It’s only been four weeks, but Illinois already has a win over Kansas who was ranked #19 at the time, and then they went on the road and beat #22 Nebraska last week. The Fighting Illini are good, and they are hoping to really make a statement this weekend against the ninth ranked Nittany Lions. </p><p> Two top-20 teams under the lights at Beaver Stadium. It doesn’t get much better than that. Here are three predictions for the big game: </p><h2><strong> Luke Altmyer will throw two touchdown passes </strong></h2><p></p><figure class="wp-caption aligncenter" id="attachment_3049194"><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0BgV3X_0vkW2mWj00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0BgV3X_0vkW2mWj00" width="1200" height="675" ><figcaption class="wp-caption-text" id="caption-attachment-3049194">© Dylan Widger-Imagn Images </figcaption></figure><p></p><p> The Illinois football team has been fortunate to have some really good quarterback play this season from Luke Altmyer. Altmyer has been lights out so far this season as he is 75/105 through the air for 862 yards, 10 touchdowns and zero interceptions. Those are very impressive stats, and he is a big reason why the Fighting Illini are having so much success this season. He is going to have another big game this weekend against Penn State and he will add to his touchdown total as he’ll find the end zone a couple times. </p><h2><strong> Luke Altmyer will throw for 250 yards </strong></h2><p> Last week, Luke Altmyer proved that he can handle a tough road environment at night against a ranked team. The Illinois football team hit the road to take on Nebraska last week, and Altmyer wasn’t fazed. The Cornhuskers are known for having one of the more difficult road environments in the Big Ten, and Altmyer calmly tossed four touchdown passes last week. Things will get tougher this weekend as Beaver Stadium is one of the toughest environments in the country, but Altmyer will have another big game. </p><h2><strong> Illinois will win 21-20 </strong></h2><p> Penn State is a big favorite in this one, but people need to stop sleeping on Illinois. They have looked extremely legit this season, but unfortunately in college football, teams get judged based off the history of their program and how good the team has been in past seasons. If names and history didn’t mean anything and this Illinois team was graded on how they have played this season, they would be getting more love. The Fighting Illini will wake everyone up this weekend. </p><p> Penn State and Illinois will kick off from Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania at 7:30 ET on Saturday night. The game will be airing on NBC, and the Nittany Lions are currently favored by 19 points. </p><p> The post <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/illinois-football-predictions-penn-state-clash" rel="nofollow"> Illinois football bold predictions for Penn State clash </a> appeared first on <a href="https://clutchpoints.com" rel="nofollow"> ClutchPoints </a> . </p></div></body>

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Illinois football bold predictions for Penn State clash

Week five of the college football season is almost here, and this is going to be a good one! After this week, some teams will be almost halfway through their regular season schedule, which is hard to believe as it feels like the season just started yesterday. Week five is going to be a fun […]
The post Illinois football bold predictions for Penn State clash appeared first on ClutchPoints.