Rutgers vs Illinois Prediction 11-23-24 College Football Picks

The Illinois Fighting Illini and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights meet Saturday in college Football action from SHI Stadium. Here’s a Rutgers vs Illinois prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Rutgers vs Illinois pick.

Illinois Fighting Illini Betting Preview

Illinois managed to beat Eastern Illinois, Kansas, Central Michigan and Nebraska in their first quartet this year before a loss to Penn State. The Illini would then take out Purdue and Michigan before consecutive losses to Oregon and Minnesota in the next pair.

On Saturday versus Michigan State, the Illini put up 14 points in the first and fourth quarters during a 38-16 win. Luke Altmyer threw for 231 yards and two TDs. Josh McCray led the rush on nine carries for 61 yards and three scores of his own.

Rutgers Scarlet Knights Betting Preview

Over on the Knights’ side, they beat Howard, Akron, Virginia Tech and Washington before a loss to Nebraska. The losing skid continued against Wisconsin, UCLA and USC, but the Scarlet Knights would recover on a win over Minnesota on November 9.

On Saturday versus Maryland, Rutgers took a 21-17 lead into the fourth quarter and eventually won 31-17 after 10 unanswered points. Athan Kaliakmanis threw for 238 yards and two touchdowns. Leading rusher Kyle Monangai carried 25 times for 97 yards and two scores on the ground.

Rutgers vs Illinois Prediction

I’ll go with Illinois here. You could certainly make a case either way, though. The Illini didn’t have a ton of issues with Michigan State on Saturday but didn’t really break the Game open until the fourth quarter. Illinois ended up with 369 yards (231 passing), 18 first downs and a pretty solid 8-of-15 on third-down tries. Perhaps more importantly, the defense held the Spartans to 2-of-15 on thirds.

As for Rutgers, they managed 370 yards (238 passing) in their win over Maryland but did give up 457 (335 passing) on the other side. The Knights have scored 26 or more points in three of the last four (20 in the other) so we could be in for a fairly high total here. Ultimately I like the Illini to walk away with the road cover/win, though.