Purdue vs. Illinois Predictions

The staff goes on the record.

Coming off a loss to Notre Dame Purdue has a real chance to get back to their winning ways against a bad Illinois team. Without Bell (possibly) and Rice will the team have enough firepower? See what the staff thinks.

Jumbo Heroes (3-0) Says:

I’m simply assuming that David Bell isn’t going to play. As such, I think the ceiling for Purdue in this game is lower. Bell would be the best player on the field if he steps out there this weekend. Taking away a weapon like that is never good. I think that the Purdue offense still has enough firepower to walk away with a win.

The Illinois offense doesn’t have a great QB or an offensive line. Losing a starting center is never good for an offensive line. With Purdue having a really good defensive line it lines up well for Purdue to wreak havoc on the Illinois offense. I think this happens and Purdue does enough to win.

Purdue 31

Illinois 17

Travis (3-0) Says:

So far, Purdue has passed the “Show improvement and get to a bowl” test. Illinois is arguably the weakest team left on the schedule, so any loss on Saturday would be flunking the next part of that test. I have a hard time seeing a path to a bowl game if we lose to an Illinois team that has not been great defensively and is an offensive mess. The weather will be good, so we’re not playing them in Dagobah during a storm like two years ago. Purdue should win comfortably, but not in blowout fashion.

Purdue 31

Illinois 17

Juan (Just happy to be here):

I have no idea why I keep being included in these emails for predictions. I don’t even work here any more!

Purdue 21

Illinois 17

Jace (2-1) Says:

If Purdue wants to go bowling this year, they win this game. Losing David Bell and Mershawn Rice hurts, but Jackson Anthrop had a big game last week against Notre Dame and I expect him to step up again this week. Karlaftis and the guys will get after Brandon Peters as the Boilers win soundly.

Purdue 31

Illinois 14

Kyle (2-1) Says:

Defense continues to surge. Offense struggles early with no David Bell, but figures it out after halftime. We see both Plummer and AOC again.

Purdue 31

Illinois 17

Holmes (2-1) Says:

This week’s Marvel villain is John Greycrow. Much like Illinois and Chief Illiniwek, Greycrow has recently made some changes due to being a controversial representation of a Native American. In Greycrow’s case, he somewhat recently dropped his original codename without any further mention of it. He’s a member of Mister Sinister’s Marauders in his first appearance and, in a bit of symmetry, is currently is a member of Mister Sinister’s Hellions on Krakoa. His powers include a healing factor and technoformation, in other words, he can take bits of machinery and quickly turn them into a better new piece of tech. For Greycrow, this usually means a big ass gun.

Illinois football has seemingly spent the last few years trying to create new football firepower out of leftover parts. Despite their Week 0 win against Nebraska, they look like a pretty bad team overall. I say Purdue pulls this one out, even with no David Bell, but it’s closer than we’d all like it to be.

Purdue 23

Illinois 21

Casey (3-0) Says:

Look. I’d love for nothing more than to ring the Bell over and over against the fighting Illinguys but is it necessary? Absolutely not. We keep playing quarter backs that are at most 50% or mid as Holmes says trying to sound like cool kids. And this is a great strategy. This Illinois team is as talent depleted as any in the Big Ten. It’s gonna be a big Plummer to Durham game. But our defense is gonna look like the stars.

Purdue 38

Illinguys 14

Drew (2-1) Says:

The Boilermakers need to avoid the double loss to Notre Dame this weekend, and it looks like they’ll have to do it without their best offensive weapon. I think the struggles we saw last Saturday are baked into the offense, but it will take a team with Notre Dame talent to expose them. Illinois doesn’t have Notre Dame talent. Plummer gets the short passing game humming, the running game returns to serviceable and the defense remains dominant.

I’ll dig further into the matchup in my stats review coming out later today. Please give it a look if you are so inclined.

Purdue 27

Illinois 17