Penn State vs. Illinois: Saturday's Big Ten Showdown Preview

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Transcript

00:00Okay, so a big game this week in Happy Valley, Penn State 17.5 point favorites over a little

00:09bit of a stunning ranked Illinois, ranked number 19 in the country.

00:12And I think one of the stories in college football this year, Bill, has been this idea

00:17that anybody ranked from like 18, 19 through 25, they're in one week, and then they're

00:22either much higher or they're out.

00:24That's the way that the top 25 has worked.

00:25So if Penn State does cover this number, Illinois is going to go from 19 to out.

00:31But the Illini have been a very big story right now in college football, they've pulled

00:35off some upsets, they've won some big games.

00:37Does that continue this weekend?

00:39Well, they've been a super dog under Brent Villama, 10 and three against the spread with

00:44him as an underdog.

00:45So you look at that, and you think maybe they can go into Happy Valley, a little bit of

00:50a, I don't want to call it passive aggressive, but back and forth about the white out energy

00:56this week between Brett Villama and James Franklin.

00:59So it is hard to go to Penn State and win at night, I've been to a couple games there,

01:03you can get caught in that environment, especially if you don't have a good start.

01:07So for Luke Altmyer, who leads the Big 10 with 10 touchdown passes and no interceptions,

01:12nobody had that in the preseason.

01:14He just has to be efficient, they have to stay on schedule, they can't get in third

01:17and longs.

01:18How did they slow down this Penn State running back attack that averages 255 yards per game

01:24between Nick Singleton and Katron Allen?

01:27I think Penn State wins, but that's a big number.

01:29The way Illinois is playing and knowing their reputation as an underdog, I think they cover.