With both teams coming off a lopsided loss last week, the Purdue Boilermakers and Illinois Fighting Illini will look to bounce back with a Big Ten victory this weekend. Purdue has lost three straight games, and they were defeated 49-10 on their home field last weekend against #3 Notre Dame. Illinois suffered a similar result, losing 42-19 against #7 Ohio State. Neither of these teams have a win against a FBS opponent yet this season, so a conference win could boost one of these teams in the right direction to begin October. Illinois is favored by double figures in this game, but it will be the first game they have played since they dismissed first-year defensive coordinator Bobby Hauck. Hauck was released on Sunday after Illinios surrendered 518 yards against Ohio State. Head coach Bret Bielema has not yet confirmed who will take over defensive play-calling ahead of their matchup against Purdue, but he confirmed that the question of play-calling will be answered at game time this Saturday. What felt like the deciding factor in the Hauck decision was that Illinois only had nine defenders on the field when Ohio State scored their final touchdown of the game.
Putting the defensive questions aside, Illinois' offense looked impressive against Ohio State's defense. The Illini put up 462 yards of total offense on the road and did not commit any turnovers. Quarterback Katin Houser threw for 263 yards and a touchdown, while the running game totaled 199 yards on 33 attempts. Their offense as a whole ranks 47th in passing and 61st in rushing. This balanced attack has the Illini sitting 52nd in scoring at 34 points per game. With question marks around their defense, Illinois will need to rely on their offense to put a solid number on the scoreboard against Purdue.
Coaching transitions are almost never without error, and Purdue hopes to take advantage of the change. Boilermakers quarterback Ryan Browne leads a solid Purdue passing attack. Browne will look to bounce back after his streak of three straight games of totaling at least 317 yards passing was ended last week. With Illinois' defensive coordinator in question in this matchup of two solid Big Ten offenses, I like for a lot of points to be put on the board this weekend.
Purdue vs Illinois prediction: Over 61.5 (-110) is available at the time of publishing. Playable at that number or better.
