Illinois lives and dies by turnovers, which also happens to be Michigan State's weakness. Controlling turnovers will be important in Champaign.

Coming out of a bye week, Illinois (6-3, 3-3 Big Ten) – a loser of two straight – no longer has its head in the clouds in regard to what might be accomplished this season. The Illini are not an upper-level Big Ten team,

If Akron stops the run, it'll cover the spread. The Zips have good tacklers and are decent against stopping the pass. NIU QB Ethan Hampton is a dual-threat player, but his arm isn’t as good as his legs.