The Penn State Nittany Lions play the Minnesota Golden Gophers. See our college football odds series for our forecast and pick for Minnesota Penn State.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are off to a strong start in this season. They pounded Michigan State and Colorado on the field. Nobody was expecting the Spartans to get destroyed in East Lansing. There was a brief period of optimism for the Gophers in the early Big Ten games. Was P.J. Fleck going to row the boat all the way to Indianapolis for Minnesota’s first Big Ten Championship Game after the defeat of Mel Tucker and the Spartans?
The excitement and hope were short-lived.
Purdue shut down Minnesota’s offence at home. The Gophers then travelled to Champaign and were defeated by Illinois. They are now on the periphery of the Big Ten West Division contest, looking in from the outside. They must defeat Penn State this week if they want to have even a remote chance of being in the running. Although Minnesota’s prospects appear gloomy, it’s important to remember that the Big Ten West battle is still open. It isn’t your typical race. The division is neither Wisconsin’s or Iowa’s to lose. The choice is yours. In the next five weeks, anything is possible if Minnesota, or any other club, can get hot.
The Nittany Lions have not been particularly convincing this season, despite the fact that Penn State has only lost one game—a lopsided setback to Michigan this past Saturday. Despite having a horrible offensive performance against Northwestern, their stellar defence kept them in the game. Their victory over Purdue was fortunate. They were behind late in the game and would have lost if the Boilermakers hadn’t punted with a few seconds remaining after gaining one more first down, setting up Sean Clifford’s game-winning touchdown drive.
Against Michigan, Penn State’s strength in the trenches was absent. If the Nittany Lions are to defeat Minnesota and return to winning this week, they must make a strong, determined effort.
Here are the NCAA football odds between Minnesota and Penn State, provided by FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Minnesota-Penn State Odds
Golden Gophers of Minnesota: +5.5 (-110)
Nittany Lions of Penn State: -5.5 (-110)
Over: 43.5 (-106) (-106)
Under: 43.5 (-114)
Why Minnesota Could Cover the Spread
Both Penn State and the Golden Gophers lack dependability and consistency. Many may point to Penn State’s humiliating defeat to Michigan as the justification for betting against the Nittany Lions in this contest, but in many ways, that dismal loss to Northwestern earlier in the season could be a stronger one. Can Penn State stifle a squad that it should be able to defeat? Being overconfident about such possibility is difficult. Although Minnesota recently lost to Illinois, the Illini are currently playing football better than Penn State. When evaluating teams on a level playing field, Penn State isn’t as good as its reputation might lead one to believe.
Why Penn State Could Cover the Spread
Minnesota is most definitely not going to cover the spread against Penn State for a night game if it couldn’t cover the spread at Illinois in a day game. The Minnesota offence is incredibly ineffective, especially in the passing game. Penn State will eat this team alive.
Final Minnesota-Penn State Prediction & Pick
Both Penn State’s and Minnesota’s offences are unreliable. So, stay away from this game. Pick the team that is receiving points rather than giving them if you must make a choice. Minnesota is that.
Minnesota-Penn State’s final Pick and Prediction: Minnesota +5.5
It was initially published on ClutchPoints: College Football Odds: Minnesota vs. Penn State forecast, odds, and pick – 10/22/2022.
