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The Penn State Nittany Lions and the Illinois Fighting Illini have had some time off and are no doubt ready to hit the field. Penn State and Illinois will face off in a Big Ten battle at noon ET on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. Both teams took a loss in their last game, so they'll have plenty of motivation to get the 'W.'
The Nittany Lions were close but no cigar two weeks ago as they fell 23-20 to the Iowa Hawkeyes. No one had a standout game offensively for Penn State, but they got scores from QB Sean Clifford and RB Noah Cain.
Meanwhile, Illinois was expected to have a tough go of it two weeks ago, and, well, they did. They suffered a grim 24 to nothing defeat to the Wisconsin Badgers. The last quarter was a mere formality since it was already 24 to nothing by the third quarter. QB Artur Sitkowski wasn't much of a difference maker for Illinois; Sitkowski passed for only 55 yards on 27 attempts.
The Nittany Lions are the favorite in this one, with an expected 24-point margin of victory. Those burned by picking them against the spread two weeks ago might want to keep in mind that the team has not yet dropped back-to-back games against the spread this season.
The losses put Penn State at 5-1 and the Fighting Illini at 2-5. A pair of offensive numbers to keep in mind before kickoff: Penn State is stumbling into the contest with the 152nd fewest rushing yards per game in the nation, having accrued only 130 on average. Illinois has experienced some struggles of their own as they are 209th worst in the nation in passing yards per game, with only 153.7 on average. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
