Scott Van Pelt published his weekly “Winners” segment on Friday.

Van Pelt is taking Illinois to cover the 14.5-point spread against the Nittany Lions in Week 3. He gave his reasoning:

“Penn State, awfully good,” Van Pelt said. “Illinois just got spanked on the road. You got a road conference opener giving more than 2 touchdowns for the Nittany Lions? A lot to ask. We’ll take the points and Illinois in the Champaign room.”

Van Pelt is 4-3-1 all-time when picking the Illini.

Penn State is off to an excellent start in 2023. The Nittany Lions are 2-0 with comfortable wins over West Virginia and Delaware already this season.

Meanwhile, Illinois has struggled. The Illini beat Toledo on a late field goal in Week 1 and then fell to Kansas 34-23 on the road in Week 2.

Penn State is 20-6 all-time against Illinois. However, the Illini won their last meeting against the Nittany Lions — a 20-18 marathon in Happy Valley that took 9 overtimes.

Kickoff is set for 12 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.