Radio: 11 a.m. Saturday; WIND-AM 560, WJOB-AM 1230.
Line: Purdue by 23.
Records: Illinois 2-7, 0-6 in Big Ten; Purdue 3-6, 1-5.
Series: Illinois leads 41-35-6.
Last meeting: Purdue won 38-30 on Sept. 25, 2004 in Champaign.
Team comparison: (avg, rank)
%%
CATEGORY ILL PUR
Rushing offense 152.5 (55) 173.8 (36)
Passing offense 202.6 (81) 259.3 (28)
Total offense 355.1 (72) 433.2 (27)
Scoring offense 18.1 (104) 28.0 (55)
Rushing defense 225.3 (114) 140.6 (50)
Passing defense 238.5 (81) 321.5 (117)
Total defense 163.8 (114) 462.1 (112)
More Top Picks Best Weaving Looms For The Money
Scoring defense 40.0 (113) 32.4 (103)
%%
Illinois outlook: Running backs E.B. Halsey and Pierre Thomas and fullback Jason Davis all played well against Purdue last season. In last week’s 40-2 loss at Ohio State, quarterback Tim Brasic completed 18 of 24 passes for 92 yards but was sacked five times and had a minus-11 to show for the 17 times he ran the football. Coach Ron Zook wants Brasic to do more throwing and less scrambling.
Purdue outlook: The Boilermakers, who returned 18 starters and didn’t have to play either Ohio State or Michigan, figured to go to a bowl for the ninth straight time in coach Joe Tiller’s nine seasons as coach. Instead, they are trying to avoid joining Illinois in the Big Ten basement. Tiller credits his secondary–Ray Williams, Zach Logan, Brian Hickman and Bernard Pollard–for last week’s 28-21 upset of Michigan State.