After plenty of talking and pregame drama, the Illinois and Penn State football teams are ready to meet on the field Saturday night.

For coach Bret Bielema and the No. 21 Fighting Illini, Saturday’s game will be a chance to assert themselves as a legitimate threat to contend in the Big Ten after a 31-24 overtime win last week against Nebraska. Penn State, No. 8 in the US LBM Coaches Poll, remains a contender for the new 12-team College Football Playoff and in the Big Ten.

Though their game didn’t earn the “College GameDay” treatment — ESPN’s popular pregame show was broadcasting from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, ahead of Saturday night’s game between No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Georgia — the matchup between Illinois and Penn State is one of the biggest on the Week 5 calendar. The game is scheduled to kick off at 6:30 p.m. from Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. The game is broadcast on NBC and streams on Peacock.

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What did ‘GameDay’ say about Illinois-Penn State?

Pat McAfee of the “College GameDay” crew was excited about the Illini, pointing out their solid quarterback play behind Luke Altmyer and receivers Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin. He said the large point spread put the Illini and Bielema “right where they want to be.”

Host Rece Davis brought up Bielema’s oft-discussed comment about “White Out energy, whatever the hell that means” (but left out the full context). Fellow panelist Desmond Howard jumped in and said the Illini were about to “eff around and find out,” highlighting the Penn State offense behind QB Drew Allar.

“I love what I see from this Penn State offense,” Howard said. “It’s gonna be a great game tonight in Happy Valley.”

Here’s who the “College GameDay” crew of McAfee, Nick Saban, celebrity guest-picker Terry Saban and more picked between the Illini and Nittany Lions:

Illinois-Penn State on ‘College GameDay’ | Who Pat McAfee, Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit picked:

• Desmond Howard: Penn State
• Nick Saban: Penn State
• Terry Saban: Penn State
• Pat McAfee: Penn State
• Lee Corso: Penn State
• Kirk Herbstreit: Penn State

Wes Huett is Journal Star local sports and news editor. Email him at whuett@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @WesHuett.

The No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions (3-0) open Big Ten play by hosting the No. 19 Illinois Fighting Illini (4-0), who are off to a surprising undefeated start this season. The Illini and No. 5 Tennessee are the only teams with two wins over ranked teams entering Week 5. Illinois upset Kansas in Week 2, then upset Nebraska last weekend in an overtime affair on the road. The last time Illinois came to Penn State, these teams played to 9 overtimes with the Illini getting the upset over a top-ten Penn State team. Read on for key storylines and how to watch this top-20 matchup on Saturday.

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Illinois

The Fighting Illini have their third 4-0 start since 1950, and it’s an unexpected one as the team has had to go through two ranked teams to get there. Last week’s overtime win at Nebraska was especially impressive to open Big Ten play. Head coach Bret Bielema is in his 4^th season in Champaign, where he’s had an up-and-down tenure. Whether this proves to be an “up” year on Bielema’s record likely depends on the team’s current stretch of games, as five of seven contests between Week 2 and Week 9 are against ranked opponents.

Illinois’ success is largely thanks to strong – though sometimes inconsistent – defensive play and an efficient Luke Altmyer at quarterback, who is the only player in FBS with at least 10 pass TD and no interceptions. It’s a huge turnaround for Altmyer, who threw 10 interceptions last season. Penn State will be the toughest defense he’s faced so far, though, and last year he threw four interceptions to the Nittany Lions.

Illinois’ defense, especially in the secondary, will look to challenge Penn State’s pass game on Saturday. Entering Week 5 the Illini have seven interceptions on the season, tied for the most in the Big Ten. CB Xavier Scott and safety Miles Scott (no relation) are the stars of the secondary; after the Scott duo combined to force 4 turnovers in the team’s Sept. 7 win over Kansas, head coach Bret Bielema referred to them as “the new ‘Scott & Scott Law Firm.’”

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Penn State

The No. 9 Nittany Lions begin conference play this weekend. Penn State is seen as one of the primary beneficiaries of conference realignment and the new 12-team Playoff, as the team now has a path to the Big Ten title game without having to go through both Michigan and Ohio State in the Big Ten East. Even when those divisions existed, Penn State recently finished in a top-12 rank repeatedly but was never selected for the Playoff, unable to crack the top four. Now, the path appears to be clear for them.

The team has shown big improvements and changes on offense under new coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, who has brought a creative style that has helped bring more big plays out of the unit led by QB Drew Allar. Allar’s most telling stat might be that he is second in FBS this season in yards/attempt, a far cry from an offense that rarely stretched the field in 2023. The pass game benefits from a strong duo in the backfield in RBs Kaytron Allen and Nicholas Singleton.

How to watch the Illinois Fighting Illini vs the Penn State Nittany Lions

• When: Saturday, September 28
• Where: Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania
• Time: 7:30 p.m. ET (Pregame coverage begins at 7:00pm ET)
• Watch: NBC, Peacock

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CHICAGO (CBS) — In a brand-new tactic to fight organized retail theft, a group is forming across the state of Illinois to bring together business owners and police.

From smash-and-grabs to large-group thefts—visuals with which we’ve become all too familiar—organized retail crime has been a major hit to businesses big and across the area.

Criminal groups that commit the retail thefts seek to resell the items to fund activities such as illegal gun purchases, human trafficking, and even terrorism, experts say.

High-profile retail districts such as the Magnificent Mile have been pummeled by thieves over recent years, but it is not just the main shopping corridors that are affected.

Illinois retailers are estimated to lose more than $2 billion in goods to retail thefts every year—impacting everything from the ability to hire new employees to expanding and maintaining business.

Further, such thefts affect not only the businesses themselves, but the city’s tax base—and ultimately everyone.

“So goes retail, So goes our local government services and state services,” said Rob Karr, president and chief executive officer of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

The new Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association is the latest measure to try to stop those hits from coming.

“In short, what it is, is an organization that brings together law enforcement, asset protection professionals, and others involved in combatting organized retail crime—including state and federal law enforcement agencies,” said Rob Karr, president and chief executive officer of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association.

Karr said the new association will streamline coordination between everyone involved—acting as a connector for businesses big and small, loss prevention specialists, and law enforcement, with the idea that the more people are connected, the quicker the crooks will be caught.

“We are really hopeful to have this great coming together that doesn’t exist today in a cohesive manner,” Karr said.

Using a shared platform, the Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association will allow groups across jurisdictions to share information and warnings, build cases, and ultimately prevent crime.

Dave Garfield, a family business owner with locations in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, has seen his fair share of such crime.

“It takes a big toll,” Garfield said.

He said one of his Garfield’s Beverage Warehouse stores had $300,000 worth of damage in a recent theft, and coming back from it is “overwhelming.” Just recently, one of his stores had a store hit more than once.

Garfield said he is happy to be part of the brand-new retail crime association, because the intel would’ve helped in that case.

“We were hit twice in a month, and it was the same crew,” said Garfield, “so I think if the first time, we would have had something like this, we would have been able to communicate with other people—and hopefully prepared ourselves to not happen again.”

The Illinois Organized Retail Crime Association kicks off Monday. Anne Sagins, who has 30 years of public service with the Illinois Senate Republicans Caucus, will serve as executive director.