Illinois Football: Betting odds and advice for the Illini vs Purdue

Coming off a rough loss to Michigan State, the Illinois football team is back in action this weekend.

The Illini welcome in the Purdue Boilermakers in hopes of getting back on track. While Illinois is already bowl-eligible this season, Purdue needs a victory to clinch a postseason berth.

What does FanDuel think about the Illini and the potential for us to come out victorious this Saturday, though?

Here are the betting odds and advice for the Illinois football team vs Purdue.

Spread: Illinois -6.5; Purdue +6.5

Even though Illinois didn’t look great against a weak Michigan State team, FanDuel still thinks we are a solid favorite against the Boilermakers.

Illinois opens the week as a 6.5-point favorite over Purdue. This is an intriguing line if you want to make some serious cash.

Entering this weekend, Illinois still has one of the best defenses in the country.  We are only giving up 11.8 points per game, which leads the nation. But I think what piques my interest the most is the Illini’s pass defense.

Purdue’s strongest area is their passing attack. Aidan O’Connell has been with the program going on 20 years now, and he has a live arm. But Illinois is only giving up 165.5 yards per game through the air.

Another thing to keep an eye on is turnovers. O’Connell has thrown 10 interceptions this season while Illinois averages 1.8 interceptions each game, which leads the country.

With that being said, I would lay a lot of money on Illinois and the spread.

Prediction: Illinois -6.5

Moneyline: Illinois -260; Purdue +210

FanDuel thinks Illinois is going to win this game, and I would tend to agree. They have the Illini at -260 and Purdue at +210 on the moneyline.

If Illinois’ defense wasn’t performing at a high level, then I might suggest taking Purdue because it would have been good value. But I don’t think that is the case right now.

The only weakness Purdue could attack is Illinois’ offense. The Illini have trouble moving the ball, but the Boilermakers aren’t good at stopping teams. Purdue is giving up an average of 28.5 points per game this season, which ranks No. 77 in the country.

I think Illinois’ defense shuts down the Boilermakers and our offense puts up a decent number of points. This has Illinois and the moneyline written all over it.

Prediction: Illinois

Over/Under: 44.5 points

I believe this is a sucker over/under for Saturday. FanDuel has the over/under set at 44.5 points.

With Illinois’ defense and Purdue’s lack of being able to score lately, this seems like a no-brainer under bet. Not so fast, my friends.

There is a factor people probably aren’t thinking about, and that is scoring points off of turnovers. I think Illinois has a chance to have multiple easy scores on Saturday. The Illini defense alone is likely to enable the offense to score 14 points. That is on top of what the Illinois offense was already going to score.

I think Illinois could put up 30 points by themselves. It is a matter of how many points can Purdue score.

O’Connell will sling the ball around and get lucky at times. Illinois likes to play aggressively on the outside. Look for a defensive back or safety to get burnt due to aggressive play.

I see this game ending with a score of something like 35-14.

Prediction: Over 44.5 points

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.