While a lot of attention is going to be on the Georgia vs. Alabama game, which unfortunately is on in the same time slot as this game, Illinois at Penn State also figures to be an interesting game that no one thought it would be at this time in the season. We all knew that the Nittany Lions would be good as they always are, but Illinois is a basketball school that usually isn’t ranked in CFB. Still, the books don’t think this one will be close. The Illini opened as +17 underdogs on the road.
The Fighting Illini are ranked No. 19 in the country after their huge upset win over the then-ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers on the road. They were +8.5 underdogs when the line closed for that game, so you can see how big of a win it was for the program. At Nebraska, Illinois picked up its first ranked vs. ranked win since #12 Illinois defeated #25 Ohio State on Nov. 17, 2001.
I don’t think anyone expected Illinois to be this good before the year, but QB Luke Altmyer has been the truth through four games. He’s thrown for 862 yards and 10 touchdowns, but even more impressively, has still yet to throw a single interception on the season. Illinois and #5 Tennessee are the only teams in the nation with two AP Top 25 wins this season.
The Illini defense has also been pretty good to this point, holding Nebraska to 24 points and a ranked Kansas team to just 17. However, they have not faced a team that is on the level of their next challenge, and if they want to remain undefeated, they will have to win in one of the toughest places to play in college football. It has happened before, and somewhat recently as well. This will be the Illini's first trip to Beaver Stadium since their historic nine-overtime victory in 2021 in the longest game in college football history.
Penn State has notably had their struggles over the years, but overall, they are still one of the premier programs in the country when it comes to football. The Nittany Lions are ranked No. 9 in the country and are 3-0 on the year after just deconstructing Kent State 56-0 last week at home. However, they did struggle against Bowling Green at home a couple of weeks ago, winning by a final score of 34-27. Those are the types of games that they have been known to have over the years, but at least they came away with a win.
QB Drew Allar seems like an improved version of himself as compared to last year, throwing for 729 yards and 8 TDs, having just a single interception to this point. As long as he continues to make good decisions with the football, this offense should keep humming right along.
Illinois has shown enough at this point that I believe that the general public will likely be taking the massive +17 point spread with them here. After all, they are a ranked team getting points, which is usually always a play for square bettors. Therefore, I will probably be laying the huge spread with the Nittany Lions at home.
As always, make sure to stay updated with the latest betting splits to see where the tickets and money are going here. It will be very interesting to see if the public does indeed buy into the Fighting Illini.
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