College Football Betting - #14 Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan State Spartans

Saturday, November 21: 3:30 p.m.

College Football Betting Odds: Penn State -3

The Big 10 season will wrap up Saturday, when the Penn State Nittany Lions travel to East Lansing, MI to take on Michigan State.

For Penn State, it’s been another successful year under legendary coach Joe Paterno. The Nittany Lions have already wrapped up their fourth nine win season in five years, and would like another win in hopes of securing a good bowl bid.

Here are some BetUS.com Trends Which May Impact This Game:

• Penn State: 13-1SU in their last 14 home games
• Penn State: 2-5 SU in their last 7 games against Ohio State
• Penn State: The total has gone UNDER in 4 of their last 5 games against Ohio State


• Michigan State: 2-0 ATS in their last 2 games
• Michigan State: 3-6 ATS in their last 9 games against Penn State
• Michigan State: 11-3 SU in their last 14 home games

The Nittany Lions will be led by senior Daryll Clark, who won his last home game at Penn State last weekend over Indiana. On the year, Clark has completed over 60 percent of his passes, thrown for 2400 yards and 10 touchdowns. As of late he has been plagued by interceptions however, as he’s thrown three in the last two games.

Leading the Penn State rushing attack is junior Evan Royster, who has rushed for 990 yards and six touchdowns on the year. Rumors are swirling around Happy Valley that this may be Royster’s last regular season game in a Penn State uniform, as he might leave for the NFL this spring.

As with any great Penn State team, as good as their offense is, they have been successful mostly because of a highly ranked defense. On the year, the group, led by linebackers Navarro Bowman and Sean Lee rank No. 4 in college football in scoring defense, allowing just 11 points per game, and No. 9 in total defense, allowing just 272 yards per contest.

The home team Michigan State, comes into this one off an emotional come from behind victory over Purdue, allowing them to get bowl eligible for the third time in three years. The Spartans are led by sophomore quarterback Kirk Cousins who has really had a phenomenal second half of 2009.

On the season, he has 19 touchdown passes to just five interceptions, but has a staggering 10 td’s and just one interception in the last five games. Michigan State’s top receiver is Blair White, a senior who has 61 catches and eight touchdowns on the year.

As for Michigan State’s defense, while it has been good this season, it has hardly been great. They are however ranked 24th in college football in rushing defense, which should be good news against a struggling Penn State running game.

With Ohio State wrapping up the Big 10 last weekend, neither team is really playing for much except for bowl positioning at this point. And while Penn State is the favorite, this line seems surprisingly low, considering that the Nittany Lions are 10-2 compared to just a 6-5 record for Michigan State.

Don’t be fooled though, the Spartans can play. Cousins is hot, and with the exception of last weekend the defense has been playing well. Expect Michigan State to come out on Senior Day and surprise Penn State, winning straight up, in this week’s online NCAA football betting.

Aaron’s Pick: Michigan State +3