Two teams looking for their first win in the Big Ten will meet Saturday when the Illinois Fighting Illini take on the Michigan State Spartans. Illinois has lost three of its last four games and is 0-2 in conference games. They lost their last game 24-17 at home against Purdue last weekend. It was a bad loss for head coach Bret Bielema and his team against the outfit that was picked to finish last in the Big Ten in the preseason rankings. As a reference, Illinois was predicted to finish ninth out of 18 teams, showing how far they have fallen in the early season.
Michigan State has not fared any better. They have lost three straight games by double figures against Notre Dame, Nebraska and Wisconsin. Their latest loss against Wisconsin came at a score of 31-3 in Madison. Quarterback Alessio Milivojevic had his worst game of the season, completing less than 50% of his attempts for only 103 yards.
Saturday’s game will be a ‘welcome home’ game for Illinois quarterback Katin Houser. Houser started his collegiate career playing for Michigan State before transferring to East Carolina. Houser has not been the problem for Illinois this season. He has completed 65% of his passes for 1,246 yards, 11 touchdowns and only three interceptions. The problems for Illinois have been their inability to run the football and to generate big plays on offense. You could point towards the play-calling, the offensive line or the running backs, but this team has not met expectations for Illinois' standards and level of talent on this roster.
I believe Illinois hit its lowest point of the season with their loss against Purdue, and they get the chance to begin to make things right against a Michigan State team that has been struggling due to lack of talent. Michigan State has struggled in every area in the past three weeks. They lack skill players on offense who can be difference-makers and put the ball in the end zone. They rank 93rd in college football in scoring and 101st in yards per game. Their defense has been underwhelming, especially in forcing turnovers and pressuring opponents' quarterbacks. They average 0.7 takeaways per game, and they were unable to sack Wisconsin’s quarterback once last weekend. Illinois is the more talented team, and I’m backing them to bounce back in East Lansing this weekend.
Illinois vs Michigan State prediction: Illinois Fighting Illini -2.5 (-110) is available at the time of publishing. Playable at -3.
