Penn State Football: Nittany Lions to Host Illinois in Week 9 Meeting

Penn State will host Illinois at 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, the Big Ten announced Sunday. The game, which will air on FS1, is part of the conference’s Week 9 series that will pit East and West division teams against one another. 

Saturday’s game will mark just the second time the Illini have visited State College since 2015. The Nittany Lions won each of those previous meetings, the most recent coming in 2018 in Champaign when Penn State won 63-24 and scored 35 points in the fourth quarter. Penn State racked up 387 rushing yards, led by 200 yards and three touchdowns from Miles Sanders.

Things will be different for Illinois after firing head coach Lovie Smith on Sunday morning. The Illini had gone 17-39 under Smith’s five year stint at the helm and currently sit at 2-5 on the year. Illinois most recently lost 28-10 this past weekend to Northwestern.

Penn State is 19-5 all-time against the Illini having last lost in 2014.

A win would improve the Nittany Lions to 4-5, meaning a hypothetical bowl appearance could allow Penn State to technically avoid a losing season. The Nittany Lions have not had a losing season since 2004, although without an out of conference slate, Penn State’s potential losing season in 2020 comes with some amount of a footnote.

The Nittany Lions are coming off a 39-24 win against Michigan State on Saturday, when Penn State outscored the Spartans 29-3 in the second half to come from behind.