Penn State is facing its biggest test of the season Saturday night in Happy Valley, as is Illinois.
Vegas likes Penn State as evidenced by the fact that PSU is favored by three scores.
But what does the NSN crew think will happen?
Mike Asti, WV Sports Now/Yardbarker: While Illinois has earned their ranking, it still have a lot to prove. Its big win over Kansas doesn’t appear so shocking anymore based on the Jayhawks’ continued struggles. An overtime win over Nebraska helped a little but Penn State will be a completely different animal.
Penn State has hit its stride offensively and offers a much more entertaining playbook than in past years. Illinois’ defense has been stellar and hasn’t allowed anyone to surpass 24 points in a game, but it also hasn’t faced an offense like Penn State’s either. As long as Drew Allar doesn’t try to force anything and Penn State can avoid a costly turnover, Penn State will win this game comfortably and what (almost) happened against Bowling Green will seem like an aberration.
I just don’t see Illinois hanging with Penn State offensively, especially if Allar can air it out.
Penn State 30, Illinois 16Â
Andy Stine, Nittany Sports Now:Â
Illinois should really take it as an insult that they opened as 17.5-point underdogs. They’re much better than that. Having said that, I think PSU is playing better than everyone seems to think. It won’t be an easy win by any means, but Penn State probably won’t be in danger either.
Penn State 31, Illinois 21
Jarrod Prugar, Nittany Sports Now: The white out energy line from Bret Bielema will prove to be much ado about nothing. This should be a tough contest for Penn State, but under the lights at Beaver Stadium should provide them with the opportunity to have an advantage. I have the Penn State winning by four scores.
Penn State 41, Illinois 17
Joe Smeltzer, Nittany Sports Now: This is the biggest test of the season for Drew Allar and the biggest test of Andy Kotelnicki’s Penn State career. Illinois hasn’t seen a QB as experienced as Allar— Nebraska’s Dylan Raiola is already good but still a true freshman— and hasn’t seen a play caller like Kotelnicki. If the QB and OC are on their game, Penn State wins, maybe easily.
Another big factor is the run game. If Illinois can limit Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen as it did last year (91 yards between the two), the game could be interesting for quite awhile assuming Illinois QB Luke Altmyer is improved enough not to throw four interceptions like he did last season. But I do think Penn State will cause problems for Altymer, too. Dani Dennis-Sutton and Abdul Carter are too good to go too long without getting to the QB, and I think they’ll build on their momentum from Kent State and continue to have success against Altmyer, who isn’t very mobile.
Illinois biggest test has been against a Nebraska team still learning how to win. Penn State knows how to win, and will win Saturday
Penn State 34, Illinois 17
