Cotton Bowl Betting Preview – Memphis Tigers vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Memphis Tigers vs Penn State Nittany Lions Game Information

The first of four college football games for the Cotton Bowl will be Memphis Tigers vs Penn State Nittany Lions. The Cotton Bowl takes place on Saturday December 28th from AT+T Stadium in Dallas. This game features the Memphis Tigers, who come into the bowl game ranked 17th, with their 12-1 record and the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Big Ten’s Nittany Lions are 10th in the country, and 10-2 on the season. The Nittany Lions are favored by 7.5 points in this game, and the total is at 60.5.

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Tigers Without Head Coach

The Memphis Tigers saw what happened when you have success. They lost their head coach Mike Norvell to Florida State. That leads the Tigers into this game with an interim coach. That guy is Ryan Silverfield. The season has been outstanding for Memphis, as they have won 7 straight games. Their last loss came 30-28 on the road at Temple. The winning streak includes back to back wins over Cincinnati.

When you think of the Memphis Tigers, you think of the offense. The Tigers are scoring 40.5 pints per game. The offense has seen nearly 500 yards per game on average. The passing game, led by quarterback Brady White is averaging 284.5 passing yards per game. The running game anchored by Kenneth Gainwell is just 3.8 yards shy of 200 per game. Memphis

Penn State Back in Big Bowl Game

The Penn State Nittany Lions are no strangers to a big bowl game. Penn State won their first 8 games of the season, before a loss at Minnesota. A win over Indiana was before the road loss at Ohio State. The Nittany Lions finished the season with a home win over Rutgers. Penn State’s best wins came on the road at Iowa, and at home to Michigan.

Sean Clifford is the man behind center for the Nittany Lions. The quarterback finished with a QBR of 69.1 on the season. He threw for more than 2,500 yards and 22 touchdowns with 8 of the touchdowns to KJ Hamler. Journey Brown led the rushing game, that averaged more than 173 yards per game. The defense was the huge key for Penn State throughout the season, as they let opponents score just 14.1 per game.

Memphis Tigers vs Penn State Nittany Lions Verdict

There are going to be some distractions around Memphis, with the loss of their head coach. But, we have seen this situation before, and the group of 5 team is playing with a ton of energy. Look for Memphis to bring their offensive shoes, and this appears to be a game that should go over the number. We are betting the Memphis Tigers to cover the +7.5 point spread, taking over, and looking into some thoughts of betting the Tigers straight up to win this game in Dallas. Penn State may be a defensive team, but we are concerned about the energy that they will bring to this bowl game.