The Purdue Boilermakers (1-0 overall, 1-0 Big Ten) visit the Illinois Fighting Illini (0-1, 0-1) Saturday for a noon ET kickoff. Below, we analyze the Purdue-Illinois college football betting odds and lines, with picks and predictions.
Purdue at Illinois: Betting odds and lines
Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Thursday at 7:30 a.m. ET.
- Money line: Purdue -250 (bet $250 to win $100) | Illinois +200 (bet $100 to win $200)
- Against the spread/ATS: Purdue -7 (-110) | Illinois +7 (-110)
- Over/Under: 58.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Purdue at Illinois: Three things to know
- Purdue beat Iowa 24-20 as a 3-point home dog last Saturday. Trailing 20-17 with Iowa driving, CB Dedrick Mackey‘s strip allowed Purdue to recover a fumble at its own 28 with 8:20 to go. Twelve plays later, WR David Bell (13 receptions, 121 yards) pulled in his third touchdown for the eventual winning score at the 2:15 mark. QB Aiden O’Connell finished 31 of 50 for 282 passing yards with 3 TDs and 2 picks. RB Zander Horvath had 31 of his game-high 129 rushing yards on the game-winning, 72-yard drive. Head coach Jeff Brohm missed the game due to a positive COVID-19 test, but he hopes to return by Saturday. All-American WR Rondale Moore also missed the game for undisclosed reasons – his status for Saturday is unknown.
- Illinois, a 20.5-point underdog, was manhandled at then-No. 14 Wisconsin 45-7 in its opener. The Illini were held to just 218 total yards and had only eight first downs in a game that was pretty much over by halftime (trailed 28-7). QB Brandon Peters was 8 of 19 for 87 yards with no TDs and no picks. He also led the Illini ground game with 75 yards on 7 carries, which probably indicates how putrid the offense was as the running backs ran for just 47 yards on 14 carries. LB Jake Hansen, the Illini’s defensive leader, exited the Wisconsin game early with an injury; his status is up in the air for Saturday.
- Illinois snapped a three-game skid in the series with a 24-6 road victory last year. The Illini were 10-point underdogs in that contest, which was played in consistent rain. The weather hindered the passing game, which was a Boilermakers’ strength.
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Purdue at Illinois: Odds, prediction, betting lines and picks
Prediction
Purdue 27, Illinois 21
Money line (ML)
PASS. Purdue should take this one, but it’s not worth a -250 risk where it will take $2.50 to profit $1 when backing the Boilermakers ML. Every winning $1 bet on the Illini ML (+200) profits $2 if they prevail.
Against the spread (ATS)
ILLINOIS +7 (-110) is worth a small play – half your usual wager – but Avoid if the line drops below 7. While the loss at Wisconsin was ugly, keep in mind the Badgers are the favorites to win the Big Ten’s West Division. The Illini should have put in a good week of practice after last week’s debacle.
Over/Under (O/U)
The UNDER 58.5 (-110) is the STRONGEST PLAY – 1.5 times your usual wager. Until the Illini figure out their offense, Unders could turn into a trend with them. Plus, the last three games in this series played to the Under.
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| Johnny’s 2020 CFB record / Strongest plays | 3-5 / 1-2 |
| 2020 overall record (all sports) | 125-97-3 |
| Strongest plays (all sports) | 63-37-1 |
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