Penn State Football: Week 9 prediction, Big Ten picks ATS
Penn State Football a two score favorite as the Fighting Illini make the trip to Happy Valley for a regular season finale at Beaver Stadium.
Penn State Football enters Saturday’s contest with Illinois riding a three game winning streak after defeating Michigan State last week 39-24.
On the other side, Illinois arrives in State College sans their now former head coach Lovie Smith, and on the back of a two game losing streak.
The Nittany Lions are starting to look more like the team that was ranked in the top 10 in the preseason and many thought would compete for a Big Ten title and potentially the College Football Playoff.
Penn State Football is a 15-point favorite over the Fighting Illini this weekend, but James Franklin’s squad has had a way of making things closer then maybe they should be in the last few weeks, despite being 3-0 ATS during this winning streak.
Week 9 is “Champions Week” around the Big Ten Conference, with Saturday’s slate highlighted by the conference championship game in Indianapolis between Ohio State and Northwestern. Covid-19 once again is wrecking havoc on the Big Ten schedule, as Purdue-Indiana, Michigan-Iowa and Michigan State-Maryland have been cancelled.
After going 2-1 last week, we’re back to .500 for the season and looking to close on a high note and in the black for the season.
Last Week: 2-1
Record to Date: 13-13
Penn State -15 vs Illinois
Penn State football rallied from an 11 point halftime deficit last week against the Spartans, using three touchdowns in three minutes in the late third/early fourth quarters to eventually win and cover.
The passing game came to life in the second half as quarterback Sean Clifford finished 17-of-27 passing for 232 yards and two touchdowns, but it is the offense we saw in the first half that mustered only 10 points that gives reason for concern when laying a spread of 15.
The good news for Penn State Football is Illinois is coming off a performance in which they allowed Northwestern to rush for 411 yards en route to a 28-10 victory. The Nittany Lions are averaging 207 rushing yards per game over their three game win streak, and if they can get freshman Keyvone Lee going he could be in line for another big game.
Offensively, Illinois is averaging only 20 points per game and also prides itself in it’s run game, using the two headed monster of Chase Brown and Mike Epstein. Brown ranks third in the Big Ten in rushing, however the Nittany Lions rank 25th in the country in rush defense so on paper this matchup should play right into their hands.
The quarterback situation is scattered, as three different guys have seen significant playing time, but whoever is under center Saturday lost their top target today when wide receiver Josh Imatorbhebhe opted out and announced he is entering the NFL draft.
Illinois is not a very good team, their victories over Nebraska and Rutgers leave a lot to be desired and it is tough to see this Illinois team moving the ball very much, if at all against this Penn State football defense.
If the running game gets going, and Clifford can use that to open up the pass when they want it, this should be a rather easy cover. Penn State wins 38-14.