Penn State Football: Lions must navigate trap game vs Illinois

After an undefeated nonconference mark, Penn State football opens conference play Friday night at Illinois. Who will emerge victorious?

After surviving a scare from Appalachian State in Week 1, Penn State has rolled the last two weeks. They beat Pitt and Kent State by a combined score of 114-16. The Big Ten schedule starts this week with the Nittany Lions traveling for a rare Friday game against Illinois.

Illinois is 2-1 on the season. They beat Kent State by seven points, a team Penn State just crushed, and beat FCS Western Illinois by 20 points. Last week at Soldier Field against South Florida, the Illini had a 19-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Bulls scored 18 unanswered points in the final quarter giving Lovie Smith‘s squad their first loss of the year.

Here’s how to watch the game:

Date: Friday, Sept. 21
Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
Location: Champaign, IL
Venue: Memorial Stadium
TV: FS1
Live Stream:  FoxSportsGo or FuboTV

Keys to Victory

The Penn State offense is clicking right now. Quarterback Trace McSorley has not been terribly accurate, but you cannot argue with 11 total touchdowns through three games. McSorley can burn you with both his arm and his legs.

With running back Miles Sanders looking steady and the emergence of wide receiver KJ Hamler, the Lions are one of the Big Ten’s best offenses. The defense is young but it continues to get better each week. If Penn State shows up and plays like they have been the last two weeks, there is little Illinois can do to stop them.

Illinois’ hope in this one will be to win the time of possession and keep the ball away from Penn State’s offense as much as possible. Easier said than done, but Illinois’ rushing attack is pretty good, rushing for over 200 yards in each of its first three games.

Penn State was prone to giving up big rushing yards against Appalachian State and Pitt so Illinois must find ways to exploit the Lions’ weakness there. Also, Illinois leads the Big Ten in turnover margin. Penn State has turned over the ball six times this season. The Illini would be boosted by a couple takeaways that could lead to points.

Betting Odds

Courtesy of OddsShark

Point Spread: Penn State -28
Over/Under: 60

Prediction

With Ohio State looming next week, could the Lions be caught looking ahead? Through three games, Penn State has started slow but really opened it up in the second half against their overmatched opponents. With a short week and the late Friday night start, there is a chance Penn State starts slow against Illinois too.

However, the talent gap is huge between these two teams. Once the scoring starts for Penn State, Illinois will have little power to stop it. Trace McSorley throws for close to 300 yards and adds four more touchdowns to his season totals. Miles Sanders gets three touchdowns of his own and Penn State rolls to victory.

Final Score: Penn State 49 Illinois 17