Nebraska-Michigan St., Maryland-Ohio St. Highlight Week 6 Vegas Big Ten Predictions
Saturday Blitz Vegas Big Ten Predictions Week 6
Purdue Boilermakers at Illinois Fighting Illini
Line: Illinois by 8.5
This could shape up to be a battle for the bottom of the Big Ten. Illinois isn’t one of the bottom two teams yet, but they sure are close. After last week’s bad loss to Nebraska, the Fighting Illini at 3-2 have shown that they just simply aren’t on certain teams’ levels. That’s the second blowout loss for them in three weeks, and the defense looks absolutely awful. Unfortunately, the offense has been a no-show as well. If it wants to pull out a victory against Purdue on Saturday, it’s going to have to score points. That means Wes Lunt has to be able to play first, and secondly, he has to put up lots of yards, unlike he did against Washington.
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Purdue, meanwhile, may be 2-3, but the Boilermakers are finally showing some improvement over last year in Darrell Hazell’s second year. The offense is still barely able to move the ball, but the defense has gotten better each week. Now it faces a tougher test where Hazell’s style might actually work. Washington used a ball control offense to limit the Fighting Illini’s possessions, and it made Lunt’s numbers look decent but caused them to lose by 25 points. Purdue isn’t Washington, but that formula may be enough to pull out a close win on the road.
Prediction
Illinois is going to struggle a little bit at first against an improving Purdue team, but with the home crowd in the mix they’ll pull out a victory. Coming off of an injury, Lunt will find his rhythm in the second half to move the Fighting Illini to 4-2 in what many people will describe as an ugly victory.
Illinois: 27 Purdue: 17