Penn State vs Illinois Prediction, Game Preview, and Betting Lines
By Pete Fiutak,
23 days ago
Ooooooooh, look out everyone … there’s a White Out happening at Penn State.
Illinois will still likely show up even though everyone will be wearing plain t-shirts.
It’s coming off a fantastic overtime win over Nebraska for a strong 4-0 start with a layup against Purdue coming up next in two weeks.
Win this, and all of a sudden the Illini will be a national thing.
Penn State could’ve hung 90 on Kent State in the 56-0 loss, and it needed the tuning after a 34-27 win over Bowling Green. With UCLA up next, win this, and it’ll almost certainly be a 5-0 start before going to USC.
Sep 21, 2024; University Park, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn State Nittany Lions running back Nicholas Singleton (10) runs with the ball during the first quarter against the Kent State Golden Flashes at Beaver Stadium.
Luke Altmyer might not be Shedeur Sanders winging it around, but the veteran passer has been good for over 200 yards per game, he has yet to throw a pick, and he’s hitting 71% of his throws. This isn’t a high-powered attack, but it’s effective.
It’s all too basic. Don’t turn the ball over, force a lot of turnovers, generate a pass rush, and come up with timely big plays on both sides of the ball.
This plays like a veteran team that won’t get rattled, but …
Why Penn State Will Win
Where there goes that “Penn State can’t throw downfield” thing.
Last year’s Nittany Lion passing attack didn’t screw up, 30 touchdown passes and just two picks - but being careful was often paralyzing.
No one thought anything was happening down the field, and it showed - Drew Allar averaged just 6.8 yards per throw, and the team averaged just 11.36 yards per completion.
Penn State is No. 2 in the nation averaging 17.3 yards per completion this season.
Go ahead and load up against the Penn State ground game, and Allar will connect on the big plays to open things up. Playing Kent State might help that, but the Illinois defense will be stretched out a bit.
Penn State vs Illinois: Who Will Win
Illinois really is a good, tough team that will be a tough out.
The lines will hold up, the defense will get to Allar a bit, and it’ll be a fight for a full 60 minutes. But Penn State’s newfound explosion will show up when needed to take over the game in the second half.
Even with the flash, it’ll be the third down, move-the-chains, boring play that get is done.
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