The Illinois Fighting Illini will travel to Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon to take on the seventh-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions in a Big Ten Conference matchup. The Fighting Illini are 2-5 (1-3) this season and are coming off a 24-0 home loss against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Sophomore quarterback Artur Sitkowski had a terrible game as he went 8-of-27 for 55 yards. The Nittany Lions are 5-1 (2-1) and are coming off a 23-20 road loss against the third-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes. Senior quarterback Sean Clifford struggled as he went 15-of-25 for 146 yards and a pair of interceptions.
Run It
The Illinois Fighting Illini love to run the football, and sophomore running back Chase Brown has done well this season as he has 60 carries for 414 yards (6.9 yards per attempt) with three touchdowns on the ground and nine catches for 104 yards (11.6 yards per reception).
In his last game against Wisconsin, Brown finished with eight rushes for 35 yards (4.4 yards per rush) and two catches for five yards (2.5 yards per reception). If Brown can get more yardage in this game, it will do wonders for the Fighting Illini.
The Illinois Fighting Illini have been struggling defensively a bit as they are giving up 24.6 points per game. In their previous game against the Wisconsin Badgers, they allowed 24 points on 491 total yards of offense (100 passing, 391 rushing).
Illinois needs to get some more stops as Wisconsin went 7-of-13 on third down and converted both fourth-down attempts. The Fighting Illini need to stop the opposing rushing attack as they allowed 6.4 yards per rushing attempt. If they can get some stops in key situations, it will be a good sign for the program.
Throwing Dots to Dotson
The Penn State Nittany Lions have been doing well in the passing game, and the fact they have senior wide receiver Jahan Dotson definitely helps. He has 43 catches for 494 yards (11.5 yards per reception) with six touchdowns through the air and two rushes for six yards (3.0 yards per rush) this year.
Looking at his last game against Iowa, he had eight catches for 48 yards (6.0 yards per reception). If he can find the end zone, it will really help the program.
The Penn State Nittany Lions have been doing well on the defensive side of the football as they are giving up 13.8 points per game. In their last game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, they allowed 23 points on 305 total yards of offense (195 passing, 110 rushing).
They need to step up defensively on big downs as the Hawkeyes went 7-of-19 on third down. Penn State did a decent job defending the pass as they allowed 6.3 yards per passing attempt. If they can figure out how to repeat this performance, they will be in a good spot.
Who to Bet
The Penn State Nittany Lions are favored by 23.5 points here at home, and they should be able to cover the spread. They are 7-1 against the spread as a favorite, and I trust Sitkowski more than I do Clifford after last week.
Illinois is scoring less than 18 points per game, and that should decrease in this game. All in all, go with Penn State to cover here.
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