The Indiana Hoosiers are ranked No. 2 in the country and continue to make program history.
On Saturday, they will try to check off another box and do something they’ve never done before, and that’s win at Penn State.
Indiana comes into this game a 15.5-point road favorite, a spread that would have been hard to fathom before the season or really at any point in either of these programs’ histories.
But here we are.
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Bettors might be shy about going against the Hoosiers when looking at recent games. They are coming off wins of 56-6 and 55-10 in their last two games and have won all but one of their games by double digits. They’re undefeated and have won by an average of 31 points, the best margin of victory in the country.
But are these too many points on the road?
I actually like Penn State getting the points here, although it’s admittedly dangerous to bet against Indiana and their head coach Curt Cignetti.
Cignetti is not shy about running up the score on his opponents. But the Nittany Lions have the ground game to move the chains and keep the clock going — a great trait to have for an underdog catching a lot of points.
Kaytron Allen and Nick Singleton were expected to spearhead a rushing attack that was going to have Penn State in the mix for a national title after coming just short in last year’s College Football Playoff semifinals. While that goal won’t be reached, the Nittany Lions can play spoiler to some extent here and at least try to disrupt Indiana’s bid for an undefeated season.
State’s quarterback Ethan Grunkemeyer has taken over for the injured Drew Allar, and the results have been underwhelming through two starts. However, road games against Iowa and Ohio State are tough assignments for anyone, and now Grunkemeyer gets to finally start at home.
As difficult as it is to bet against Indiana right now, the Hoosiers do have a modest 20-15 win against Iowa on their ledger, and let’s hope — as Penn State backers — that this game can yield a similar score.
Let’s go with Penn State +15.5 and hope the running game does enough to shorten this contest and keep it within a pair of touchdowns.
PICK: Penn State (+15.5) to lose by fewer than 15.5 points
Will Hill, a contributor on the Bear Bets Podcast, has been betting on sports for over a decade. He is a betting analyst who has been a host on VSiN, as well as the Goldboys Network.
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