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Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan State Spartans: Betting Guide

Any hopes that the Michigan State Spartans had of playing for a national championship ended with a humbling loss to Ohio State last week. This will be a tough foe to bounce back against.

Arnold Ebiketie of Penn State leads the Big Ten with 17 tackles for loss with nine coming in four games against ranked opponents.

Penn State Nittany Lions at Michigan State Spartans: Betting Guide
Scott Taetsch/Getty Images/AFP

Penn State has a tendency to play to the competition level with a nine-point loss to Ohio State, a four-point defeat to Michigan and a loss by three points to Iowa. However, there is also a head-scratching loss to Illinois.

Michigan State’s expected win total before the season was five, which was behind Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, and Maryland in the Big Ten’s East Division.

Temperatures are expected to be in the mid-30s with only a slight chance of rain at kickoff.

  • Game: Penn State (7-4) at Michigan State (9-2)
  • Location: Spartan Stadium
  • Day/Time: Saturday, Nov. 27, 3:30 p.m. ET
  • Television: ABC

Betting Lines

Team Point Spread Moneyline Over/Under
Penn State -1½ N/A 52
Michigan State +1½ N/A 52

Head-to-Head

The Nittany Lions were listed as 14½-point favorites according to the college football spreads in the 2020 meeting against the Spartans. Penn State trailed by 11 points at halftime.

Penn State scored 21 points in a span of 3:38 to pull away for the 39-24 win. Jahan Dotson’s punt return for a touchdown with 11:24 left allowed the Nittany Lions to cover for the second straight time in the series.

The game went over the 46-point total on a Penn State touchdown with two seconds left in the third quarter.

Penn State

Next game: to be announced

Last Game

Penn State was favored by 14 points according to the college football odds over the visiting Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

Christian Veilleux, filling in for injured Penn State starting quarterback Sean Clifford, threw a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to push the lead to 21 points.

Rutgers had one drive in the second half that reached the red zone but a fourth-down sack ended the Scarlet Knights’ best scoring drive of the second half.

The game went well under the 45-point total as a game involving Penn State went under the total for the fifth game in a row.

Injury Report

Clifford (illness) is questionable but could return after missing last week. Running back John Lovett (flu) and quarterback Ta’Quan Roberson are questionable. Offensive lineman Sal Wormley is out. Defensive lineman Hakeem Beamon, PJ Mustipher (knee) are out for the season.

 

Michigan State

Next game: to be announced

Last Game

The Michigan State Spartans were listed as 19½-point underdogs according to the sportsbook in the game against Ohio State Buckeyes.

Ohio State scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions to take a 49-0 lead in the first half. Both teams scored touchdowns in the second half as Michigan State failed to cover for just the second time in the last seven games.

The game went under the 70½-point total after the last three games all went over the total.

Injury Report

Defensive tackle Simeon Barrow, linebacker Itayvion Brown (hand), offensive lineman Matt Carrick and Jarrett Horst (illness) are questionable. Defensive end Jack Camper, linebacker Carson Casteel and tight end Trenton Gillison are out.

Betting on the Game

Michigan State running back Kenneth Walker is too talented to expect another 25-yard outing as he had against Ohio State as the game got away from the Spartans early.

Penn State is in the middle of the pack in the Big Ten in rushing defense but that is more of a case of opposing teams running early and often against the Nittany Lions. Illinois and Northwestern are the only Big Ten teams to have running plays against them than the 420 that Penn State has defended. Penn State has allowed a Big Ten-low seven touchdown runs.

Dotson is the first Penn State receiver with more than 1,000 receiving yards in a season since Chris Godwin in 2015

Penn State has one of the best red-zone defenses in the country as the Nittany Lions have allowed touchdowns on only 11-of-37 trips to the red zone by opposing offenses. Top-ranked Georgia is the only team with a better mark.

The scores and odds total has gone under in Penn State’s last five games and in 12 of the Nittany Lions’ last 14 road games. However, the total has gone over in eight of their last 10 games at Michigan State.

Michigan State is 5-2 against the spread in its last seven games.

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