Saturday, September 27, 2008

White Out Preview

The Illini head to Happy Valley to face one of the most prolific college football offenses this season. JoePa's Nittany Lions are ranked #3 in scoring and #6 in total offense, and their margin of victory has been impressive. And they've schedule a fan "white out" for the nationally televised game.

The Illini are considered the toughest team Penn State has faced this season (although Oregon State looks much better now than they did in Week 2 when they visited JoePa). And Juice's offense ranks in the top 20 for overall offense.

However, Penn State boasts a top-ten defense nationally, and the best overall defense in the Big Ten so far. And this is an area where the Illini are working to make progress.

There are a few interesting points to watch in this game. The Illini are underdogs, but that's where Coach Zook likes to play from.

A few things the Illini need for orange to color the white-out:
No question this will be a tough game for the Illini who upset Penn State in Champaign last year. Remember Benn's TD return? You can be sure Penn State does, too. And while the Illini won on the road last year, the 2008 team doesn't have a few of the pieces in place that they had when they went into Columbus last year. Happy Valley won't be an easy place to play. However, anything is possible in college football, and the Illini have the tools to stage the upset.

On a related note, thanks to the 2007 Fighting Illini football team for raising the Illini to the level where, just 4 weeks into the season, the Illini are playing in their second nationally televised prime time game. Wow. Just a few years ago that would be hard to imagine.

So take advantage of it, boys. Give Penn State more than they can handle.
Go Illini!

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# posted by Alma Mater : 10:11 AM


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