Predictions for Illinois-Penn State
A day late but we're still here.
It's time for predictions! First of all, lets see how things turned our in the NCAA Football 2012 simulation.
NCAA'S PREDICTION
#21 PENN STATE 35 ILLINOIS 10
SCORING BY QUARTER
1ST
2ND
3RD
4TH
TOTAL
ILLINOIS
0
0
3
7
10
#21 PENN STATE
7
21
7
0
35
TEAM STATS
ILL
PSU
Total Yards
261
506
Rush Yards
128
177
Pass Yards
133
329
3rd Down Conv.
10 – 18
9 – 11
4th Down Conv.
0 – 0
1 – 1
Turnovers
0
2
Punts
6
1
INDIVIDUAL STATS
PASSING
COMP
YARDS
TDS
INT
Nathan Scheelhaase – ILL
11 – 25
133
1
0
Matt McGloin – PSU
23 – 34
312
3
2
RUSHING
ATT
YARDS
YPC
TDS
LONG
Jason Ford – ILL
29
102
3.5
0
10
Silas Reed – PSU
23
148
6.4
2
20
RECEIVING
REC
YARDS
YPC
TDS
LONG
Ryan Lankford – ILL
3
45
15
1
22
Devon Smith – PSU
6
103
17.1
1
26
DEFENSE
TFL
SACK
INT
PD
FUMBLES
DEF TD
ILL Defense
3
1
2
1
none
0
PSU Defense
8
2
0
4
none
0
KICKING
FGA
FGM
LONG
XPA
XPM
Derek Dimke – ILL
2
1
33
1
1
MY PREDICTION
#21 PENN STATE 21 ILLINOIS 10
The Illini offense has been sluggish of late and Penn State has a better defense than the one Purdue threw out there last Saturday. Even though Nathan Scheelhaase and company have the right tools and plays to score a lot of points, the execution hasn't been there. If the Illini want to get it done, they will have to get the running game going to set up the pass. Jason Ford will need to continue the nice running he had at Purdue, and we need to hear A.J. Jenkins' name called more often than it has been of late.
I expect the defense to once again give us a solid performance. The last couple of weeks they've given up scores when drives have started with their backs against the wall. Hopefully this doesn't happen this week. We need the offense to stay on the field for longer than three plays so the defense can rest up.
It all comes down scoring points. A total of 21 points in our last two games isn't getting it done. If the Illini can score in the twenties, I like our chances. However, I haven't seen anything in the last two weeks that makes that look possible. Penn State makes it seven in a row.
What do you think. Do the Illini break out of this funk, or do the Nittany Lions give Illinois it's third straight loss? Let me know with your thoughts and predictions below. Talk to you guys after the game on Saturday.
I-L-L...
17 IL
14 PSU
Penn St scores off one offensive turnover but overall their offense is sluggish
IL finally gets power game going
been a poor call to not use one back per drive, minus subs for weariness, all season but hopefully patrino sees that a rhythme is more important for the offense then trying to confuse the defense with multiple runners
Last week's game was pretty horrendous. Losing to a Purdue team that is far less talented is not good; even if Purdue has been playing better as of late. Not sure what happened to our offense but it has been non-existent; and that is not a good sign heading into Happy Valley. I think Penn State's defense is the best we have seen to this point. However, their offense isn't very good either.
I think points are going to be quite hard to come by but Penn State gets more opportunities due to our tired defense being on the field a lot. We get a garbage touchdown and 2-pt conversion at the end of the game to avoid the shutout.
Illinois: 8
Penn State: 23
Hope I'm wrong. Go Illini!
Really? I haven't seen that one.
I did find this scale with the coach's name attached to it though:
"...the Zooker Goofball Scale from 1-10 (wherein Zook is a 10)", coined by ESPN's Pat Forde in his October 11th article entitled "Season's second act promises surprises".
Last week was a disappointment. The special teams essentially gave up a touchdown which turned out to be the difference in the game. We need to block better. Nathan shouldn't be getting sacked/harassed so much and our RB's should at least get to the line of scrimmage before they are hit. I think the motivation is on our side this week. PSU has had a lot of close games against average teams - Indiana, Purdue, Temple, even Iowa is not that great this year. Their defense is great but we're better than we've shown the last two weeks. This week we're the team with our backs against the wall.
Illinois 23
Penn State 20
INI
PSU-24
Illini-14
I hope Im wrong but Ive been down this road with the Illini before.
PSU is not an easy team to get your run game going and we need that to buy Nate a little time to get off a good pass.This team is bi-polar just like the last 3 years, Our special teams are anything but special and our O-line needs to step it up a notch. On the postive I think our defense is better than I thought it would be and A. J. Jenkins is a special player,
As Always Go Illini
PSU grad here. My original guess was PSU 23, Illini 13. However, there is now 2-10 inches of snow predicted for tomorrow here in Happy Valley. I'm thinking a lower scoring game with a stingy PSU defense and an improving Illini defense in bad weather. New pick: PSU 10 Illini 6
I hope it is more exciting than that. Good luck to all.
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