Too many factors: week after an emotional win in a rivalry game, State is 0-2 on the road this season, new QB can be a big spark, Illinois losses have been to very good teams. Too many variables.
I'm an Illinois fan, and I'll likely be laying quite a bit on State this weekend. Juice hasn't been the entire problem (although he certainly hasn't helped) -- the team is shooting itself in the foot. Our secondary is beyond slow, we have no one on the team that can tackle, we can't stop a run up the middle (Ohio State didn't even attempt a pass on us the first half and had no problem running all over us) and we shoot ourselves in the foot with penalties time and time again. Example: fair catch called for on the 5 by PSU for a good 2-3 seconds before the ball arrives, and a member of our punt team dives full speed into the returner for a 15-yarded that moves them all the way up to the 20.
Our wide receivers are dropping stuff that hits them on the hands, we have a glaring inability to convert on third down, and our running backs flat out suck.
I'm not an MSU fan or Illini fan however I think Spartan32 is making a very smart decision in laying off this one. EVERYONE thinks Michigan St. is a shoe in to cover that spread.....except that they won't