Can you believe we're already in Week 5 of college football? Time flies when you're having fun! Check out our 2 best bets for Saturday, September 28. Good luck!
Illinois Fighting Illini vs Penn State Nittany Lions
It will be a battle of undefeated teams on Saturday night when the # 19 Illinois Fighting Illini head into Beaver Stadium to take on the #9 Penn State Nittany Lions. Illinois is coming off a solid 31-24 victory over then-ranked #22 Nebraska last Friday night.
The win gave the Illini a 2nd win in just 4 games over a ranked opponent. The other is #19 Kansas. Illinois is ranked 21st in the country in points allowed (12.5) and has a balanced offensive attack that has neither portion ranked inside the top 120.
Luke Altmyer has been efficient for Bret Bielema while under center this season. He is completing over 70% of his passes and has tossed 10 touchdowns without an interception. They are not flashy, but this Illinois team has found their way to get by in tough matchups to date.
The Nittany Lions started their season off with an impressive 34-12 win on the road at West Virginia. However, their following game against Bowling Green was anything but easy. Trailing 20-24 at the break, PSU was able to find their footing in the 2nd half.
The defense rose to the occasion and held the Falcons to just 3 points while the offense was able to put together 2 touchdown drives. After a bye week that followed, PSU took on a Kent State team that was nothing to worry about and handled business 56-0. This matchup with Illinois will be their 1st true test of the season.
Best Bet: Penn State -19
Bret Bielema may have given some bulletin board material to Penn State this week; particularly their rowdy fanbase. He was quoted as saying that Nebraska is a tougher place to play, which probably was not a smart move heading into Beaver Stadium for a night game.
The atmosphere should be electric for this one and believe that Penn State’s defense will finally get to Altmyer and cause a turnover or two which should help decide this game. With this being such a closely ranked contest, you would expect this line to be much lower than 18. We like Penn State here in a route.
Key Betting Trends for Illinois vs Penn State
- Illinois is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games against Penn State.
- Illinois is 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games against an opponent in the East Division.
- Penn State is 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games.
- Penn State is 11-3-1 ATS in their last 15 games against an opponent in the Big Ten conference.
Oklahoma State Cowboys vs Kansas State Wildcats
#20 Oklahoma State will head into Bill Snyder Family Stadium on Saturday afternoon to take on the #23 Kansas State Wildcats. The Cowboys are 3-1 and coming off a tough loss to the Utah Utes last week. They were averaging 42.6ppg before the Utah matchup but were held to just 19 in the loss.
Ollie Gordon was once again stymied and finished with just 42 yards on 11 carries. They were only able to pick up 11 total first downs and the defense was not able to stop the Utah rushing attack that finished with 249 yards.
For Kansas State, they had a similar fate last week. After starting 3-0, including a 31-7 win over then #20 Arizona; the Wildcats were smacked by BYU on the road. Leading 6-3 with the ball in the last 2 minutes of the half, DJ Giddens fumbled which resulted in a scoop and score for BYU.
Moments later, Avery Johnson threw an interception which led to a late field goal and momentum completed shifted to BYU heading into the half. After 2 early touchdowns by BYU to start the 2nd half, the end was written and KSU lost 38-9. The 3 turnovers by the Wildcats is what led to their demise and will need to be cleaned up in order to hold off Oklahoma State this weekend.
Best Bet: Kansas State -5
No one knows that is going on with Ollie Gordon and the Pokes rushing attack, but it is likely not going to get figured out this week against a KSU team that 23rd in the country against the run.
On the other hand, the Cowboys have had trouble stopping the run and now face a KSU team that is 16th in the country and averaging 226 yards per game on the ground. We like Avery Johnson to use his legs to frustrate the Pokes defense and cover the number here at home.
Key Betting Trends for Cowboys vs Wildcats
- Oklahoma St is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games when playing on the road against Kansas State.
- Oklahoma St is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games played in September.
- Kansas St is 14-6 ATS in their last 20 games against Oklahoma State.
- Kansas St is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games at home.
