After bad transitioned to worse last weekend at Wisconsin, Purdue now heads to Illinois, where the Illini are enjoying a strong season.
Our GoldandBlack.com staff predictions …
MIKE CARMIN, CONTRIBUTOR
Overall Thought: New play-caller last week. New quarterback this week. Ryan Browne takes over quarterback duties since starter Hudson Card is sidelined by an injury. Can the struggling offense find some firepower to jumpstart the season? Browne will be throwing to the same receivers who struggle to find open spaces but may be featured more in the run game.
*The* Key To The Game: An early touchdown and lead might be the boost the Boilermakers need.
Advertisement
Your Pick To Click (offense): Reggie Love III. Facing former teammates provides a spark.
Your Pick To Click (defense): Kyndrich Breedlove. Staying with the hot hand.
Spiciest Take: Would Purdue fare any better in the “Project Rudy” league?
Predicted Score: Illinois 31, Purdue 11
TOM DIENHART, GOLDANDBLACK.COM
Overall Thought: You know how they say “things are never as bad as they seem”? Well, they are as bad as they seem.
Advertisement
*The* Key To The Game: How about just competing for four quarters? That would be a start.
Your Pick To Click (offense): C Gus Hartwig. The “Admiral” is one Boilermaker you know will show up.
Your Pick To Click (defense): CB Kyndrich Breedlove. Have to pick someone. Let’s go with Mr. 2 INTs.
Spiciest Take: Bret Bielema won’t take a knee late, opting to add an unnecessary TD. Why? Because he can.
Predicted Score: Illinois 45, Purdue 0.
Advertisement
ALAN KARPICK, GOLDANDBLACK.COM
Overall Thought: An unprecedented bad stretch for Purdue football gets no easier as its team leader and quarterback will not play.
*The* Key To The Game: Starting fast. Rinse and repeat on this, but Purdue needs something good to happen to it in the first 15 minutes. Illinois is going places this season and owes the Boilermakers a spanking after last year’s blowout loss to the Gold and Black. I can’t imagine many scenarios where this is competitive in the fourth quarter.
Your Pick To Click (offense):Reggie Love III. He will be extra jacked up for his return to home territory. With quarterback Ryan Browne at the helm, one would think Purdue will push to run the ball.
Your Pick To Click (defense):Kydran Jenkins. He can make big plays on the defense. He may get lots of opportunities late Saturday afternoon.
Spiciest take: Purdue will reach the red zone on its first offensive possession? I don’t have much in the spiciest take department.
Advertisement
Predicted Score: Illinois 34, Purdue 14
JORDAN JONES, CONTRIBUTOR
Overall Thought: Players and coaches love to claim they ignore outside noise, but there’s simply no ignoring it when it’s this loud. After four straight losses of 59, 17, 18 and 46 points, how much juice does this Purdue team have left?
*The* Key To The Game: Purdue cannot play from behind. Will the pressure get to Illinois if Purdue can create an early spark? Illinois has defeated Purdue just once since 2015.
Your Pick To Click (offense):Reggie Love III. He’ll get the chance to face his former teammates, and he’d undoubtedly love to rip off a big run or two.
Your Pick To Click (defense):Dillon Thieneman. Purdue desperately needs big plays. After he picked off six passes as a freshman, he still awaits his first of 2024. He gets it on Saturday.
Advertisement
Spiciest Take: The Big Ten moves to an NFL-style injury report in the next few years. It’s inevitable.
Predicted Score: Illinois 38, Purdue 13
BRIAN NEUBERT, WONK
Overall Thought: How quickly this has all fallen apart has been shocking and there will be no sympathy from the Illinois sideline, If you don’t think recruiting or staff transactions get personal, think again.
*The* Key To The Game: As shockingly fast as this team and season have fallen apart, the games have been a microcosm of the broader theme. I say every week something positive has to happen early, but it might be more like something terrible not happening.
Your Pick To Click (offense):Drew Biber. Purdue’s trying to use its tight ends creatively. Maybe they come up with something to generate plays for someone other than Max Klare, the only skill player who should command any respect. Shorter throws for Ryan Browne would probably be a good idea.
Advertisement
Your Pick To Click (defense):Joseph Jefferson. Someone has to make a bunch of tackles. May as well be him.
Spiciest Take: When we’ve got dudes here picking the damn center as their pick to click, that means we should probably stop doing this.
Predicted Score: Illinois 31, Purdue 6.
CHAT GTP, STAFF AI BOT
Just trying to make sure we are more interesting …
Photo: Benjamin Chambers/Delaware News Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Delaware Blue Hens will play at the Illinois Fighting Illini in 2027, the school announced on Wednesday.
Advertisement
Delaware will travel to take on Illinois at Gies Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 11, 2027. The game will mark the first-ever football meeting between the two schools.
Delaware was previously scheduled to visit the Penn State Nittany Lions on Sept. 11, 2027. However, that contest has been mutually canceled, per the announcement from Delaware. The Delaware-Penn State game was scheduled back in 2018 when Delaware was a member of the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
Other non-conference contests for Delaware in 2027 include the season-opener against LIU at home on Thursday, Sept. 2, a home contest against James Madison on Sept. 18, and a trip to face UConn on Nov. 27.
With the addition of Delaware, Illinois now has all three of its non-conference opponents set for the 2027 season, barring any additional changes. The Fighting Illini are also scheduled to host Eastern Illinois and face Missouri at a neutral site, both on dates to be determined.
Illinois’ game against Eastern Illinois was previously scheduled for Aug. 28, but Eastern Illinois has since signed a contract to face Murray State that weekend instead.
Important reminders and changes for Illinois taxpayers filing state and federal returns in 2026.
SPRINGFIELD – Central Illinois and the capital city will be seeing another round of bitter cold temperatures this weekend.
Temperatures are set to turn sharply colder by late week, according to the National Weather Service.
Advertisement
There is an increasing likelihood of bitter cold wind chills Friday through Saturday, a weather graphic shows. Springfield is predicted to experience a -15-degree minimum wind chill forecast from Jan. 23 to Jan. 24.
More: Earthquake hits central Illinois. Here’s what to know
According to the Detailed Forecast for Springfield, the temperature will drop from a high near 32 on Thursday to a low around 3 on Thursday night.
Friday will be partly sunny and cold, with a high near 7. Friday night will be mostly cloudy with a low around -1.
Advertisement
Saturday shows a 30% chance of snow after noon. It will be mostly cloudy with a high near 13. Saturday night is predicted to see a 30% chance of snow before midnight. It will be mostly cloudy, with a low around 6.
Sunday will be mostly sunny, with a high near 19.
Tom Ackerman covers breaking news and trending news along with general news for the Springfield State Journal-Register. He can be reached at tackerman@usatodayco.com.
Editor’s Note: The video in the above player is from a previous report.
If you purchased canned tuna recently, you’ll want to double check what is in your cabinet.
El Segundo, California based Tri-Union Seafoods announced in an FDA recall issued Tuesday that a third-party distributor “inadvertently released quarantined product that was associated to a February 2025 recall” to grocery store locations in nine states.
The affected products are two kinds of Genova Yellowfin Tuna cans.
Advertisement
The cans of recalled tuna were shipped to Meijer locations in Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio and Wisconsin, according to the recall. Giant Foods locations in Maryland and Virgina and Safeway, Albertsons, Vons and Pavilions stores in California also received the products.
The recall was first issued in February 2025 because the “easy open” pull tab on the cans had a manufacturing defect that could compromise the product seal, causing it to leak or be contaminated with the toxin that causes botulism, a potentially fatal form of food poisoning, according to the recall.
Here’s a closer look at the recalled products:
Genova Yellowfin Tuna in Olive Oil 5.0 oz 4 Pack: UPC no. 4800073265, Can Code S84N D2L with Best if Used by Date 1/21/2028 and Can Code S84N D3L with Best if Used by Date 1/24/2028
Genova Yellowfin Tuna in in Extra Virgin Olive Oil with Sea Salt 5.0 oz: UPC no. 4800013275, Can Code S88N D1M with a Best if Used By Date 1/17/2028
Anyone with the product should not use it, even if it does not look or smell spoiled, the FDA said. Those who do consume the product and begin feeling unwell should seek immediate medical attention, the FDA added.
The recalled cans of tuna can be returned to their place of purchase for a refund, thrown away, or customers can request Tri-Union can provide them with a retrieval kit directly and a coupon for a replacement product.
Advertisement
Questions and inquiries about the retrieval kits can be directed to Tri-Union Seafoods at support@thaiunionhelp.zendesk.com or 833-374-0171.
