Illinois releases new details for Penn State matchup

As the 2023 season gets closer opposing teams begin to pick their game themes. The Penn State football team will have to play in an Orange Out against Illinois when the Nittany Lions play in their first road game of the season. This game will be huge for QB Drew Allar as it will serve as his first career road start. The Penn State faithful remember the most recent game against the Fighting Illini in 2021, when the Nittany Lions fell 20-18 in nine overtimes.

Penn State football will play in an Orange Out against Illinois

On Saturday, September 16th the Penn State football team will hit the road to take on the Illinois Fighting Illini. This game will serve as the conference opener for both teams and will be the Big Noon Kickoff game on FOX. On Friday afternoon the Illinois social media pages announced that they will host an Orange Out when Penn State comes to town.

Get ready to break out the orange.

Get your tickets with Preseason Pricing: https://t.co/etZaZGRZAK#Illini // #HTTO // #famILLy pic.twitter.com/VhcJNm30Jf

— Illinois Football (@IlliniFootball) July 21, 2023

Of course, this means that just like the Penn State traditional whiteout game, the Nittany Lions will see all of the Illinois faithful wearing orange in Memorial Stadium. This will be an interesting matchup as the Fighting Illini are beginning to build something special in Champaign. Last season, they finished with an 8-5 record on the year which allowed them to play in the ReliaQuest Bowl where they were defeated by Mississippi State 19-10.

Illinois cannot be taken lightly

Although it seems that Illinois head coach Bret Bielema has made progress with his team, Penn State should be able to handle the Illini this season. It will start with the Penn State defense making things difficult for first-year starting QB Luke Altmyer while allowing their own first-year starter in QB Drew Allar to develop a rhythm early in this game.

Penn State cornerback Kalen King will have his work cut out for him as he will most likely defend Isaiah Williams a former QB who has converted to wide receiver and will be a problem for the Nittany Lions if they don’t cover him well. It will be interesting to see an Orange out and Penn State cannot afford to have a slow start in an early kickoff against an up-and-coming Big Ten team.

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