The Penn State Nittany Lions defeated the Illinois Fighting Illini on Saturday night in a gritty, grimy game. Penn State used Illinois tactics against them, running the football repeatedly in the third and fourth quarters to grind out a closer-than-expected victory.

Penn State's run game has been strong so far this season, and I think they'll be able to do enough in this game to keep Illinois honest. That will allow Penn State quarterback Drew Allar to make enough big throws to lead Penn State to victory. That will ultimately be the difference in this contest.

No. 9 Penn State arguably faced a test in its Big Ten opener, hosting No. 19 Illinois on Saturday. The Fighting Illini came into the matchup off a big win over then-No. 22 Nebraska in Lincoln, improving to 4–0 and looking like a possible factor in the conference race.