Illinois-Penn State: a Week 5 college football game with blowout 'energy'?

Penn State coach James Franklin has called on fans to provide “white-out energy” Saturday on Homecoming night.

“Whatever the hell that means,” Illinois coach Bret Bielema said about that.

A video clip of Bielema speaking those five words rippled the social-media cesspool, with certain pretend journalists seizing an opportunity to rip the longtime coach for being dismissive or disrespectful. In reality, Bielema, who’s fond of taking trips down memory lane during press conferences, was in the process of sharing personal anecdotes that were entirely praiseful of Penn State, its gameday environment and its fans, the “whatever the hell” being merely a playful aside.

What does any of that have to do with the game itself, No. 19 Illinois (+18) at No. 9 Penn State (6:30 p.m., NBC 5)? Probably nothing. The Illini — 4-0 for only the second time since 1951, if you can believe it — are in for a wicked test and might want to get off to a more focused start than this picks column has.

The Nittany Lions (3-0) have so much going for them, including a big-armed, broad-shouldered 6-5 quarterback, Drew Allar, who has been close to spotless. They have powerhouse running back Nicholas Singleton running around and through people on the way to 8.5 yards per carry and a matchup nightmare at tight end in 6-6, 260-pound Tyler Warren, who has total first-team All-American vibes. They stole offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas — where he is sorely missed — and brought in former Indiana coach Tom Allen to run their defense. The talent and the coaching is very nicely in place for a team with every reason to think it should end up in the expanded College Football Playoff.

Not to frighten anybody, but the Nits ran up a program-record 718 yards in their last game, a 56-0 win against Kent State, while their defense allowed — are you ready? — 66 yards.

“This will be taking it to a whole ’nother level,” Bielema said.

The Illini have beaten two ranked foes in September for the first time in school history, no small feat. But those foes were Kansas and Nebraska, each a far cry from Penn State, so let’s not make too much of it.

Still, the Illini aren’t pushovers; anyone who has been watching would have to agree with that. They’re plus-seven in turnovers despite not having fallen on any of Nebraska’s three fumbles last Saturday. Luke Altmyer is the only QB in the land who has thrown double-digit touchdown passes without an interception and joins Purdue’s Kyle Orton and Ohio State’s Justin Field as the only Big Ten QBs to do that through four games in the last 20 years. Altmyer to the Bears someday? Maybe if he brings wideout Pat Bryant, who leads all power-conference receivers with six TD grabs.

Bielema’s teams are 8-6 in Big Ten road games, by the way. Whether it’s a good thing or not, they’ve just plain played better away from Memorial Stadium. Nits win, Illini cover — 31-20.

OTHER WEEK 5 PICKS

All games are Saturday.

Northern Illinois (+6½) at NC State (11 a.m., CW26): NIU reportedly is flirting with the Mountain West conference, kind of funny given its last two games. Beat Notre Dame: Move up in the world! Lose at home to Buffalo: Why are we even talking about this? But the Huskies are back on TV and facing former coach Dave Doeren in another big-league game that’s winnable, which is exciting. Will banged-up QB Grayson McCall play for the two-loss favorites? Wolfpack, 27-20.

No. 15 Louisville (+6½) at No. 16 Notre Dame (2:30 p.m., Peacock): All the national talk about the Irish these days centers on whether or not QB Riley Leonard can sling the ball around the yard capably enough. Fair question, but here’s another one: Can the Cardinals hold up against this nasty Irish front? QB Tyler Shough has been pressured into mistakes many times in his nomadic career, which feels like the real story here. Irish, 27-17.

No. 2 Georgia (-1½) at No. 4 Alabama (6:30 p.m., ABC 7): Let’s not kid ourselves, both these teams will end up in the 12-team playoff. So this one “doesn’t matter,” in a very particular manner of thinking, even if the drama between these mega-rivals is palpable. The Bulldogs have everything but the No. 1 ranking, a slight they find less than hilarious. The Crimson Tide, playing their first monster game post-Nick Saban, might be the new No. 1 on Sunday if they can protect their turf. Break out that special-occasion spittoon, bubba — ’Dogs, 26-23.

My favorite favorite: No. 13 USC (-14½) vs. Wisconsin (2:30 p.m., CBS 2). Remember when you’d automatically pick Wisconsin against a spread like this based on its brutality at the line of scrimmage alone? Alas, Badger football isn’t built like that anymore — and now QB1 Tyler Van Dyke has a torn ACL. Trojans in a rout.

My favorite underdog: Michigan State (+24) vs. No. 3 Ohio State (6:30 p.m., Peacock): The much-improved Spartans look like a football team again. At night, with a well-oiled crowd going bananas, they fight like hell … and lose, but not by that much.

Last week: 4-3 straight-up, 4-3 against the spread. 

Season: 17-10, 13-14.