Saturday, September 27, 2014

Beaver Stadium in University Park

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

Coach Pat Fitzgerald's Northwestern (1-2) team finally got in the win column last week picking up a 24-7 win over Western Illinois after dropping two straight contests to start the season. The sweet taste of victory could be short-lived though as the Wildcats must travel into Beaver Stadium for a battle with a high-flying Penn State (4-0) offense.

The demise of Northwestern has been their inability to score, ranking 104th in the country with just 21.0 PPG. Trevor Siemian has been largely unimpressive as the QB has thrown for only 2TD against 3 INT while completing less than 60% of his passes. To be fair Siemian hasn't been getting much help in the run game as the usually-impressive Wildcat ground attack is putting up only 115.3 YPG which is 106th in the country. The Penn State defense will have a feeding against this inept offense as the Nittany Lions have the 10th best squad in the country allowing only 270.8 YPG.

There are very few offensive question marks on the other side of the ball as PSU has the 16th best passing attack in the nation led by rising star Christian Hackenberg. The sophomore QB is prone to throw an interception (4 TD / 5 INT) but is one of the most electrifying signal callers in the country, throwing for 315.5 YPG. Hackenberg will look to exploit a Northwestern defense giving up 257.3 YPG. Penn State coach James Franklin rarely takes the ball out of Hackenberg's hands with the nation's 108th ranked rush offense.

The Wildcats are 0-4 against Penn State since they joined the Big Ten and have lost six straight meetings overall. Northwestern finds themselves double digit underdogs and will need a concentrated effort to slow the Nittany Lions offense down and earn their first conference win of the year.

Northwestern Wildcats Betting Trends

Northwestern Wildcats are 0-3-0 Against the Spread

Northwestern Wildcats are 0-2-0 against the Over/Under

Penn State Nittany Lions Betting Trends

Penn State Nittany Lions are 3-1-0 Against the Spread

Penn State Nittany Lions are 2-2-0 against the Over/Under

Injuries to Watch

Northwestern Wildcats

09/21/14 DL C.J. Robbins Suspension "?" Saturday vs. Penn State
09/21/14 WR Tony Jones Leg "?" Saturday vs. Penn State
09/21/14 DL Xavier Washington Undisclosed "?" Saturday vs. Penn State
08/27/14 DL Sean McEvilly Foot out for season
08/13/14 WR Christian Jones Knee out for season

Penn State Nittany Lions

08/11/14 RE Adam Breneman Undisclosed out indefinitely
08/02/14 LB Ben Kline Achilles out indefinitely
08/02/14 C Miles Dieffenbach Knee out indefinitely

Tony's Pick: Take Penn State

Get $60 worth of FREE premium member picks. No Obligation. No Salesman. No Credit Card. Fast Sign up with Instant Access Click Here

Read more articles by Tony Sink