Preview: Illinois at Penn State
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 31, 2015
Where: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
By stacking the box against outstanding Penn State freshman running back Saquon Barkley last week, Maryland challenged Christian Hackenberg to beat it last week, and the junior signal caller obliged. Hackenberg will likely have the same opportunity again Saturday, albeit against a much stingier defense, when Illinois travels to University Park in hopes of snapping a two-game losing streak and beating the Nittany Lions for a second straight season.
Hackenberg threw deep early and often against the Terrapins, completing 13 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-30 victory while playing a fifth straight game without throwing an interception. The Fighting Illini held a three-point lead on Wisconsin midway through the third quarter last week before falling 24-13. Saturday’s contest will likely be decided in the trenches, as Illinois’ much-improved defense is yielding nearly 14 fewer points per game this season than it did in 2014 and is sixth-best in FBS in third-down conversion rate (27.3). "Their defense is impressive," Penn State coach James Franklin said this week. "That's going to be a real challenge for us. We need to be great on first and second down to get to third down and manageable situations. And we need to find a way to convert them."
TV: Noon ET, ESPN2. LINE: Penn State – 5.5
ABOUT ILLINOIS (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten): Led by defensive end Dawuane Smoot, who has five sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, the Fighting Illini are yielding just 20.3 points per game and 345 yards, down from 456.4 a season ago. Quarteback Wes Lunt is completing 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,702 yards with nine TDs against three interceptions, seven sacks and no fumbles lost. Wide receiver Geronimo Allison leads the Big Ten in receptions per game (6.9) and is averaging 100 yards receiving a contest while freshman Ke’Shawn Vaughn has run for 447 yards and four TDs.
ABOUT PENN STATE (6-2, 3-1): Barkley (632 yards, 7.2 per carry) was limited to 65 yards on 20 carries last week as the Terrapins stacked the box, allowing Hackenberg to continuously beat 1-on-1 coverage deep down the field. Chris Godwin was the main recipient, hauling in four passes for 135 yards to increase his team-leading totals to 34 and 628, respectively. End Carl Nassib leads a defensive front that leads the nation in sacks (31) against an offensive line that yields just 1.1 sacks per game – 16th fewest in the nation.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Penn State leads the all-time series 17-5, including 8-1 at Beaver Stadium, but the Illini pulled off a 16-14 victory last season on David Reisner’s 36-yard field goal with eight seconds left.
2. Illinois DB Clayton Fejedelem, who is nursing a bruised knee, had a career-high 19 tackles last week against Wisconsin, which is the sixth-most in a single game in FBS this season.
3. With last week’s effort, Hackenberg became the Lions’ all-time leader in yards (7,453) and completions (608) while tying Zack Mills (2001-04) in pass attempts (1,082).
ATS Trends
OU Trends
Head to Head
When: 12:00 PM ET, Saturday, October 31, 2015
Where: Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
By stacking the box against outstanding Penn State freshman running back Saquon Barkley last week, Maryland challenged Christian Hackenberg to beat it last week, and the junior signal caller obliged. Hackenberg will likely have the same opportunity again Saturday, albeit against a much stingier defense, when Illinois travels to University Park in hopes of snapping a two-game losing streak and beating the Nittany Lions for a second straight season.
Hackenberg threw deep early and often against the Terrapins, completing 13 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns in the 31-30 victory while playing a fifth straight game without throwing an interception. The Fighting Illini held a three-point lead on Wisconsin midway through the third quarter last week before falling 24-13. Saturday’s contest will likely be decided in the trenches, as Illinois’ much-improved defense is yielding nearly 14 fewer points per game this season than it did in 2014 and is sixth-best in FBS in third-down conversion rate (27.3). "Their defense is impressive," Penn State coach James Franklin said this week. "That's going to be a real challenge for us. We need to be great on first and second down to get to third down and manageable situations. And we need to find a way to convert them."
TV: Noon ET, ESPN2. LINE: Penn State – 5.5
ABOUT ILLINOIS (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten): Led by defensive end Dawuane Smoot, who has five sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss, the Fighting Illini are yielding just 20.3 points per game and 345 yards, down from 456.4 a season ago. Quarteback Wes Lunt is completing 57.2 percent of his passes for 1,702 yards with nine TDs against three interceptions, seven sacks and no fumbles lost. Wide receiver Geronimo Allison leads the Big Ten in receptions per game (6.9) and is averaging 100 yards receiving a contest while freshman Ke’Shawn Vaughn has run for 447 yards and four TDs.
ABOUT PENN STATE (6-2, 3-1): Barkley (632 yards, 7.2 per carry) was limited to 65 yards on 20 carries last week as the Terrapins stacked the box, allowing Hackenberg to continuously beat 1-on-1 coverage deep down the field. Chris Godwin was the main recipient, hauling in four passes for 135 yards to increase his team-leading totals to 34 and 628, respectively. End Carl Nassib leads a defensive front that leads the nation in sacks (31) against an offensive line that yields just 1.1 sacks per game – 16th fewest in the nation.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Penn State leads the all-time series 17-5, including 8-1 at Beaver Stadium, but the Illini pulled off a 16-14 victory last season on David Reisner’s 36-yard field goal with eight seconds left.
2. Illinois DB Clayton Fejedelem, who is nursing a bruised knee, had a career-high 19 tackles last week against Wisconsin, which is the sixth-most in a single game in FBS this season.
3. With last week’s effort, Hackenberg became the Lions’ all-time leader in yards (7,453) and completions (608) while tying Zack Mills (2001-04) in pass attempts (1,082).
ATS Trends
Illinois |
|
Penn State |
|
OU Trends
Illinois |
|
Penn State |
|
Head to Head
|