Game Preview
Penn State‘s 2023 season appears to be off to a promising start. The Nittany Lions will be heavy favorites against Illinois on the road to kick off Big Ten action for a third consecutive week.
Penn State has started the season with two convincing victories by double-digit margins, while Illinois is reeling off a disappointing Week 2 loss on the road against Kansas. Penn State will want to keep rolling on both sides of the ball while Illinois tries to get back on track before their Big Ten opening against one another.
Penn State has a perfect 2-0 record after opening the season with home victories over West Virginia and Delaware. The Nittany Lions have won both of their first games while covering the point spread both times. Some may find it questionable that Penn State, as a 21-point favorite, only won by 38-15 over the Mountaineers in the season opener.
The Nittany Lions defeated Delaware 63-7 last week despite having to cover a huge 44-point spread against the visiting FCS team. Penn State’s first two games this season have likewise both gone over.
Against the spread, the Illini have lost both of their opening games. Illinois was a 7.5-point home favorite over Toledo in the season opener, but they only won by two points. Last week, Illinois was a 3.5-point underdog at Kansas and ended up losing by a score of 34-23.
The Penn State player availability report for Week 2 against Delaware revealed the absence of several starters due to injury. Coziah Izzard, Daquan Hardy, and Amin Vanover, who started as a backup, were the most notable of these players. For unknown reasons, Izzard and Hardy have missed the first two games of the season.
Due to a knee injury, Illinois was without linebacker Ezekiel Holmes last week. He will not be returning to the lineup any time soon. Tyson Rooks, the Illini’s backup cornerback, is reportedly day-to-day with an injury.
Sign-up at BetUS TODAY and get 125% BONUS. Use the Promo Code BETUSTV125. Terms and Conditions apply.
Let’s check the latest picks, NCAAF news, stats and NCAAF expert picks for Penn State vs Illinois. We’ve plenty of NCAAF predictions for you to consider.
Penn State Nittany Lions vs Illinois Fighting Illini Game Information
- Date: 09/16/2023
- Time: 12:00 PM ET
- Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, IL.
- How to Watch Penn State vs Illinois : FOX
- Live Stream: fubo.tv
