Nebraska at Penn State Line

Written by Steve Janus - Google +

The No. 12 Penn State Nittany Lions will host the No. 19 Nebraska Cornhuskers in a crucial Big Ten matchup on Saturday. The Nittany Lions lead the Leaders division with a perfect 5-0 conference record and return from their bye week on a seven-game winning streak. The Cornhuskers were stunned 25-28 at home by Northwestern, just one week after taking control of the Legends division with a 24-3 win over Michigan State. Both teams will look to improve their chances of playing in the first ever Big Ten Championship Game with a win this week.

Taking a look at the week 11 spreads, oddsmakers currently have Nebraska favored by 3.5-points over Penn State with the total set at 43 points.

Nebraska:

Even though Nebraska completely dominated Michigan State the previous week, they are going to need some help from the other teams in the conference over the final three weeks of the regular season. Unless Michigan State loses one of their final three games, the Cornhuskers will have no shot at winning the Legends. At the same time, Nebraska’s loss also opened up the door for teams like Michigan and Iowa who are also sitting at 3-2 in conference play.

In the Cornhuskers last game against Northwestern they really didn’t play all that well on either side of the ball. Nebraska was outgained 468 to 411 in total yards and couldn’t do anything offensively until it was too late. The Cornhuskers managed just 10 points over the first three quarters, despite facing a Northwestern defense that had allowed 34 points or more in each of their first five Big Ten games.

The most surprising thing was Nebraska’s inability to effectively run the football. They finished the game with just 122 yards and one touchdown on 35 attempts. It wasn’t even close to the standard this team is use to. The Cornhuskers are averaging 237.7 ypg on the ground.

Taylor Martinez threw for season-high 289 yards and two touchdowns on 28 of 37 passing, but it’s hard to imagine the sophomore quarterback repeating that kind of success. In the previous six games, Martinez threw for more than 180 yards just once.

The offense better get things figured out in a hurry if they want to avoid losing two straight. Penn State has allowed just two two teams to score more than 24 points in a game, and are allowing under 10 points a game at home in conference play. The Nittany Lions are very strong against both the run and the pass. They allow just 111.9 on the ground and only 170.4 through the air.

Penn State:

The big news surrounding Penn State’s football team isn’t about their 8-1 record, its about the sexual allegations regarding current athletic director Jerry Sandusky. The latest news coming out of State College is that head coach Joe Paterno knew that something happened back in 2002 but did nothing to solve the issue. All signs point to Paterno not returning next season, and some believe he could be fired before the season is over.

This puts the players in a very difficult situation, as no one really knows what is going to happen. It also takes a lot of focus away from the actual game. Whether or not the players can battle through this is something we likely won’t know until the game actually kicks off. Unless you absolutely have to, I would suggest not betting on this game as of right now.

There is no denying how well Penn State has played on the defensive side of the ball, but you have to wonder if this sad attempt at an offense is going to end up costing this team at some point down the stretch. Penn State is 56th in rushing (161.6 ypg) and 86th in passing (194.2 ypg). In their last game against Illinois they managed just 209 yards of total offense and were held scoreless for the first 53 minutes of the game.

The Nebraska defense has struggled at times this season, but you have to imagine they are going to be able to keep Penn State in check. The Cornhuskers held Michigan State’s poor offense to just 187 yards of total offense two weeks ago.