Last Week:
The Illini are coming off of a close 24-13 loss to Wisconsin as Illinois fell to 4-3 on the year and picked up its second straight loss after losing to Iowa 29-20. The meeting with Wisconsin came after the Illini’s bye week and should have Penn State’s opponent fairly fresh coming into Saturday’s game.
Illinois has had an up and down season all year, winning four of its first five but losing handily to North Carolina. The Illini do have a solid 14-13 victory over Nebraska on their resume but the Cornhuskers have been plagued with close losses all year long. No longer under head coach Tim Beckman this season could have been a lot worse in transition but all things considered the Illini are staying above water quite nicely.
The Offense:
Wes Lunt is once again in charge of quarterbacking duties for the Illini and has 1,702 yards to show for it with 57% completion rate and 9 TDs to his name. Lunt hasn’t quite looked as good as some thought he might but all things considered he has been a solid player to build an offense around. If nothing else his familiarity with the offense is one less bit of transition the Illini have to deal with this year.
Ke’Shawn Vaunghn and Josh Ferguson have taken over running back duties with just over 800 yards between them and seven scores. Vaughn is technically the primary with 37 more carries than Ferguson on the year.
Geronimo Allison is the Illini’s lone threat in the receiving game with 700 yards this season already. Even so, four different Illini receivers average more than 10 yards a catch even if not tons of receptions and yards to show for it. Marchie Murdock has three scores on 20 receptions to tie the team high with Allison. Eight players have a reception of over 20 yards under their belt.
The Illini convert 37% of their third downs and have given up just 8 sacks.
The Defense:
Defensive back Clayton Fejedelem leads the way for the Illini with 74 tackles on the year as linebacker TJ Neal comes in second with 62 this season. Illinois is holding opponents to just over 20 points a game this year and 344 yards of total offense per contest. Take away a lopsided loss to North Carolina and those numbers are even better. The Illini may not have the best defensive in the conference, but Illinois is perhaps more stout that people anticipate. Relatively close conference games only supporting that claim.
The Illini are tied with Ohio State and Iowa for the Big Ten lead with nine interceptions. Defensive backs Taylor Barton and Eaton Spence are tied for second in the conference with three interceptions each.
The Player To Watch:
Usually the quarterback is the default option here but with limited mobility it’s Allison that gets the nod over Lunt this week. If Penn State can keep the Illini’s primary ariel option in check then it’s a running game against Penn State’s defensive seven. Allison leads the conference and ranks 16th in FBS with 6.9 receptions per game. He also ranks second in conference and 14th nationally with 100.0 receiving yards per game.
Many teams have struggled to get going on the ground against Penn State and an Illinois team that would rather spread out and pass isn’t likely going to be the team to change that trend. As long as Penn State can prevent the big play there isn’t much Penn State’s defense can’t handle that Illinois is going to show them.
The Prediction:
Penn State’s ability to show up in many different forms makes predicting anything to absolutely happen one way or another pointless. That being said the Nittany Lions are the better team and playing at home. It might be a closer game than fans like, but Saquon Barkley and perhaps a rejuvenated passing attack should get the job done.
Penn State 24-10
