Week 3 college football and the Penn State Nittany Lions will travel to High Point Solutions Stadium in New Brunswick, New Jersey to take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The game has a start time of 8:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on the Big 10 Network. Current Vegas odds have the Nittany Lions listed as 3.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 52.
Analysis: Penn State comes in with a 2-0 record, that includes a solid 26-24 win over UCF in Ireland and then a lackluster 21-3 win over Akron last week. That performance vs Akron was expected as the Lions did play the week be fore in Ireland so travel with no rest was an issue. The offense for the Lions was was decent, as they put up 425 yards of offense, while Christian Hackenberg had another nice game, throwing for 319 yards with 3 TDs. He does need to cut down on the mistakes as he has 4 INTs on the year, which is the same number of TDs he has. Penn State comes in ranked 49th in total offense (468 ypg), 7th in passing (386.5 ypg) and 102nd in scoring (23.5 ppg), while on defense they rank 14th in yards allowed (261.5 ypg) and 23rd in points allowed (13.5 ppg).
Rutgers comes in with a nice 2-0 record, that includes a 41-38 road win over Washington State and then a 38-25 win over Howard at home. Maybe it was the letdown factor, but Rutgers didn't really play well in the game vs Howard as they were outgained by 30 yards in the game, they were just 3 of 10 on third downs and they were able to rush for just 2.9 ypc. QB Gary Nova has been one of the most improved QB's in the Nation and he comes in having completed 67.4% of his passes for 563 yards with 6 TDs and just 1 INT so far on the year. The Knights come in ranked 62nd in total offense (446.5 ypg) and 37th in scoring (39.5 ppg), while on defense they have struggled, ranking 107th in yards allowed (482.5 ypg) and 98th in points allowed (31.5 ppg).
Pick: Going with the Knights in this one. The Lions are an improved team but Im just not sure they will be able to match the Knights point for point and we also note that this is the Knights Big 10 home opener. The place should be jumping and Rutgers should get the upset win here.
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