Penn State heads into their first conference matchup of the season against Illinois Saturday. The Nittany Lions will travel to face a team that beat them in nine overtimes back in 2021.
While the revenge angle could certainly be a motivating factor here, the reality is, almost two years later, there’s been turnover from that game in both programs.
Penn State has high aspirations for the season. Illinois will look to play spoiler in front of their home fans on national television.
The Nittany Lions have more talent than their opponent once again, but the game still needs to be played on the field. There’s plenty of ways that the Illini could keep this game close and pull off the massive upset.
But here are five reasons why Penn State will win on Saturday.