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The Illinois Fighting Illini watched the action from their couches last weekend, but are set to take to the field. They are on the road again on Saturday and play against the Iowa Hawkeyes at 2 p.m. ET Nov. 20 at Kinnick Stadium. These two teams come into the game bolstered by wins in their previous games.
The Fighting Illini were able to grind out a solid win over the Minnesota Golden Gophers two weeks ago, winning 14-6. Illinois' RB Chase Brown did his thing and picked up 150 yards on the ground on 33 carries.
Meanwhile, even if it wasn't a dominant performance, Iowa beat Minnesota 27-22 last week. Iowa QB Alex Padilla was slinging it as he passed for two TDs and 206 yards on 24 attempts in addition to punching in one rushing touchdown. Padilla had some trouble finding his footing against the Northwestern Wildcats two weeks ago, so this was a step in the right direction.
Illinois is the clear underdog, so they're hoping it's the size of the fight that determines this one. However, those who like betting on the underdog should be happy to hear that they are 5-1 against the spread when expected to lose.
Illinois is now 4-6 while the Hawkeyes sit at 8-2. A couple offensive stats to keep in the back of your head while watching: The Fighting Illini are stumbling into the matchup with the 218th fewest passing yards per game in the nation, having accrued only 138.4 on average. Iowa has experienced some struggles of their own as they are 202nd worst in the nation in yards per game, with only 297 on average. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
