Penn State opens as a double-digit favorite over Illinois
The Penn State Nittany Lions are 2-0 on the season and oddsmakers like the Nittany Lions' chances of improving to 3-0 on the season. DraftKings was the first to release odds on Sunday morning, making the Nittany Lions a 15.0-point favorite over the Illinois Fighting Illini for their week three showdown in Champaign.
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While the Nittany Lions have been impressive in their first two weeks of action, Illinois has struggled. In week one, the Fighting Illini narrowly avoided being upset by the Toledo Rockets with a 30-28 victory. This past weekend, the Illini fell to Kansas 34-23, dropping their record to 1-1 on the season.
After having the best scoring defense in all of college football in 2023 while only allowing 273.5 yards per game en route to an 8-5 record, the Illini defense has struggled in 2023 under first-year defensive coordinator Aaron Henry. The Illini's former defensive coordinator, Ryan Walters, took the head coaching job at Purdue this offseason.
Through their first two games this season, the Illini have allowed an average of 477 total yards, including 539 total yards of offense to the Kansas Jayhawks this past weekend.
Penn State is 20-6 against Illinois all-time but lost the last meeting between the two programs in 2021 as the Illini won 20-18 in the infamous nine-overtime game at Beaver Stadium. The last time the Nittany Lions lost in Champaign was in 2014, a 16-14 win for the Illini.
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