Illinois at Purdue: 9/25/21 College Football Picks and Prediction

Defensively, Illinois is allowing their opponents to average 30.3 ppg on 352.5 total yards per game (207.8 passing yds/g; 144.8 rushing yds/g).

The Purdue Boilermakers dropped to 2-1 on the season after being defeated by the 12th ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 27-13, this past Saturday. Purdue trailed by just a 17-13 margin heading into the 4th quarter, however, the offense struggled down the stretch and could not fight back after a Kyren Williams 51-yard TD run gave the Fighting Irish a 14-point lead with just 6:05 left in regulation. Purdue outgained Notre Dame by a 348-343 margin, however, lost the turnover battle by a 2-0 margin in the loss. Leading the way for the Boilermakers was QB Jake Plummer who completed 25 of 36 passes for 187 yards & 1 TD.

On the season, Purdue is averaging 30.7 ppg on 437.0 total yards per game (326.3 passing yds/g; 110.7 rushing yds/g). Offensively, Purdue has been led by QB Jack Plummer who has completed 72.2% of his passes for 745 yards & 7 TD. The top receiving threats for Plummer and the Boilermakers have been David Bell (21 rec, 319 yards, 3 TD), Payne Durham (17 rec, 203 yards, 3 TD), Jackson Anthrop (16 rec, 151 yards), & Mershawn Rice (6 rec, 69 yards, TD). Leading the way for the Purdue backfield has been the trio of King Doerue (27 att, 123 yards, TD), Dylan Downing (23 att, 92 yard), Zander Horvath (23 att, 89 yards, TD). Purdue won’t be with Zander Horvath as he is out 4-8 weeks with a broken fibula.

Defensively, Purdue is holding their opponents to an average of 16.0 ppg on 309.7 total yards per game (202.3 passing yds/g; 107.3 rushing yds/g).

The Fighting Illini are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 games overall and just 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS win. The Boilermakers are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a ATS win and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games in September.

Illinois did a decent job of keeping Maryland off the scoreboard in their recent loss, however, this is still not a very good Fighting Illini defense and they have really struggled against opposing passing attacks as they come into this game ranked just 124th in College Football in passing defense. Jack Plummer is one of the better QB’s in the country that should be able have plenty success at home and as I think the Boilermakers defense will give the Fighting Illini trouble, I think Purdue wins this one by two TD’s and covers this spread. Good Luck!