Where to Watch Rutgers at Illinois: Big Ten College Football on NBC & Peacock
The Scarlet Knights face the Fighting Illini in a tough march through the late-season heart of Big Ten conference play.
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It’s Week 10 of college football... and it just so happens to be arriving at the apex of Spooky Season. When you’re surrounded by candy wrappers and looking for a cure to your day-after Halloween hangover this Saturday, look no further than NBC and Peacock, where a two-game slate of Big Ten football action is kicking things off early with a noontime matchup between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the Illinois Fighting Illini.
With a gauntlet of Big Ten conference games still ahead, Rutgers and Illinois will face off in a fight to ascend a conference pecking order that’s been dominated all season long by the likes of AP No. 1-ranked Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana — a pair of Big Ten teams that have yet to lose a game. How can you tune in and start shaking off Saturday’s post-Halloween sugar rush (or maybe just give in to temptation and head back to the candy leftovers bucket for seconds)? Keep on scrolling for all you need to know!
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Rutgers vs. Illinois: How to watch Big Ten football on NBC and Peacock
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (4-4, 1-4 in conference) hit the road on Saturday, November 1 to face the Illinois Fighting Illini (5-3, 2-3 in conference) for a Big Ten college football matchup that’ll be broadcast live on NBC and Peacock. Kickoff time is set for 12 p.m. ET from Illinois’ Gies Memorial Stadium, with NBC Sports’ Paul Burmeister (play-by-play) and Jason Garrett (analysis) on the call, accompanied by sideline reporting from Zora Stephenson.
The Rutgers vs. Illinois game is the first of two Big Ten college football matchups coming to NBC and Peacock on November 1. Later that same day, the Nebraska Cornhuskers will host the USC Trojans in a Big Ten Saturday Night prime time contest that kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET.
What to know about the Rutgers vs. Illinois college football game
After starting the season strong with three consecutive wins, Illinois got an early taste of Big Ten reality in a 63-10 blowout at the hands of Indiana — a Week 4 beatdown that toppled the Illini from an early No. 9 AP ranking. Illinois bounced back with a close 34-32 win over USC the following week, earning a much-needed conference win before facing (and falling to) stiff competition from Ohio State and Washington.
Illinois’ 42-25 loss last weekend at Washington exposed lingering holes in the Fighting Illini defense, which surrendered touchdowns to the Huskies on all but two of the game’s possessions. The offense, at least, keeps on doing enough for Illinois to remain competitive: QB Luke Altmyer tossed two early TDs in a 22-34, 199-yard passing effort in last week’s loss against Washington — and if you’re looking for more silver linings, the 16 points the Illini scored in their October 11 loss against Ohio State are by far the most that the Buckeyes have allowed against any opponent this season.
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Rutgers, meanwhile, heads to Illinois nursing a 4-4 overall record. But they got a huge boost by coming away with a signature win over a Big Ten opponent: The Scarlet Knights finally broke a four-game losing streak (while also picking up their first much-needed conference victory) with a Week 9 win over Purdue last weekend, gaining much-needed momentum as they head into an especially tough late-season gauntlet of Big Ten matchups that includes a date against No. 1-ranked Ohio State.
Though the Scarlet Knights needed a late field goal to beat Purdue, Rutgers QB Athan Kaliakmanis had himself a game against the Boilermakers. Kaliakmanis went 19-27 and 359 yards while passing for one score and rushing for another, maintaining a season-long streak of passing performances that have consistently hovered between 249 and 386 yards through the air — not counting, of course, an anemic 79-yard outing when Rutgers went up against the Oregon Ducks’ stingy defense in a demoralizing Week 8 loss.
With each team’s strength favoring the offensive side of the ball, it makes sense that whoever wins Saturday’s Rutgers-Illinois game will likely have to put up a whole lot of points to get there. For what it’s worth, oddsmakers seem to agree, favoring the Illini in a post-Halloween conference matchup that promises to satisfy viewers’ high-scoring sweet tooth.
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