Illinois vs Southern Illinois Prediction: The Illini Need To Look Good, Fast
Illinois wasn't great in either of its first two games. It needs to turn things around fast against Southern Illinois. Here's the CFN preview and prediction.
Illinois (1-1) enters this matchup with an okay record, having beaten UAB but struggling against Duke who scored 17 points in the final 16 minutes. Southern Illinois (2-1) is a strong FCS team with a powerful pass rush and an attacking defense. Illinois has only faced three FCS opponents since 2018 and won by a combined score of 128-3, including an 42-34 victory in 2013.
Southern Illinois typically performs adequately against FBS teams, with a notable loss to Purdue last year and a win over Northern Illinois this season. Their offense has struggled, but they have scored late in their games, outscoring opponents 42-10 in the fourth quarter. Illinois' backups have conceded late touchdowns to both UAB and Duke, but their defense has been solid, allowing no sacks and just three tackles for loss.
Illinois needs to improve its ground game consistency and stop third downs, as well as develop a winning attitude ahead of their tough Big Ten opener against Ohio State. The game line is Illinois -39.5, with an over/under of 54.5 points. The consensus confidence in this matchup is 1.5 out of 5, and the must-see rating is also 1.5 out of 5.
Written by urgent.news from Yahoo Sports's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
