Bet on Football – Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

Week 6 of the bet on football college pigskin season kicks off bright and early from Happy Valley where the Penn State Nittany Lions will look to secure their first Big Ten victory of the season in their homecoming game against the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Penn State Nittany Lions

Game Date/Time: Saturday, October 9th, 12:00 ET
Game Location: Beaver Stadium, State College, PA
TV/Radio Broadcast: ESPN2, Sirius, XM

NCAA Football Odds

Illinois Fighting Illini (-7.5) -110
Penn State Nittany Lions (+7.5) -110
Over/Under 42

Both the Illinois fighting Illini and Penn State Nittany Lions enter this Big Ten tussle already having suffered a pair of defeats on the season.

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While Illinois put a scare into the Ohio State Buckeyes in Champagne last week, it failed to pull off the shocker. What the Illini did however do was improve their bet on football season record to 3-1 ATS after covering the 16-point spread in the 24-13 home defeat.

Joe Pa and his Nittany Lions also fell to 0-1 in the Big Ten after getting thoroughly dominated in Iowa City against a Hawkeyes outfit destined to compete for the conference crown throughout the entirety of the season. PSU moved to a bankroll bursting 1-4 ATS falling 24-3 as 7.5-point road underdogs.

This contest marks the first true road test for the Illini this season. They battled a game Missouri Tigers outfit back in Week 1 in St. Louis ultimately falling 23-13 as 13-point neutral field underdogs. The bet on football cover away from Champagne now finds head coach Ron Zook’s squad an impressive 4-0 ATS their L/4 away from Champagne’s Memorial Stadium.

While the offense boasts a solid rushing attack led by Mikel LeShoure (487 yards (6.2 YPC) 3 TDs), the unit overall is still a work in progress with young signal caller Nathan Scheelhaase leading the way (489 yards 3:4 TD/INT ratio). The defense however has been stout both against the run (#42 at 130 YPG) and pass (#52 at 192.2 YPG) and has gotten constant pressure on opposing QB’s averaging 2.5 sacks per game.

Though the Penn State O-Line has done a decent job protecting frosh quarterback Robert Bolden, the offense has really struggled to move the ball coming in ranked #76 in total yards with 355.2 YPG. With the Nittany Lions struggling to get anything done downfield, look for the offense to have just as tough a time moving the ball as Illinois.

Illinois is averaging a miniscule 130.5 YPG through the air this season, while Penn State has allowed just 192.2 YPG via the pass (#52) and dealt with much better QBs than that of the Illini’s youngster (Alabama’s Greg McElroy and Iowa’s Ricky Stanzi). Keeping the clamps on Scheelhaase shouldn’t be too much of a stretch as long as the back seven doesn’t allow LeShoure to bust out some big gains on dump offs.

NCAA Football Insider Tip: Look for this afternoon’s bet on football match-up to be an intense battle of field position. While both offense’s boast what look to be some capable playmakers, none has experienced enough success in the early goings this season to be able to navigate successfully through these better than average stop units.

Illinois has played to the ‘under’ six of the L/7 times it took on a conference opponent and in seven of its L/9 road games. The low side of the total has also cashed nine of the L/10 times the Nittany Lions were installed home favorites.

The defenses will rule the day in one of the more lower scoring games of the Week 6 bet on football slate.

My NCAA Football Predictions: Illinois/Penn State Under 42

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