Indiana at Penn State Spread, Free Pick & TV Info

Posted by Kenny Bell on Wednesday,November 9, 2016 10:46, EDT in

While all the talk in the Big Ten is about No. 2 Michigan and No. 6 Ohio State, don’t overlook one of the nation’s biggest surprise teams in No. 12 Penn State as the Nittany Lions could still win the East Division over the Wolverines and Buckeyes. PSU is an college football lines favorite on Saturday at Indiana.

Indiana at Penn State Spread, Free Pick & TV Info

When: Saturday, Nov. 12, Noon ET
Where: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
TV: ESPN2
Stream: WatchESPN
Radio: Indiana / Penn State
Opening NCAA Football Lines: PSU -6.5 (59.5)

Why Bet on Penn State?

Penn State has won five straight Big Ten games for the first time since starting 2011 when the Nittany Lions started 5-0 in conference play.

The Nittany Lions (7-2, 5-1 Big Ten) are on track for their first 10-win season since 2009 — before the Jerry Sandusky scandal. PSU beat Iowa this past Saturday by scoring 41 points, the most the Hawkeyes have allowed all season. The week before that, against Purdue, Penn State scored 62, the most the Boilermakers have allowed all season. The hot streak started with a 24-20 win over (at the time) No. 2 Ohio State. No team has scored more than 24 on the Buckeyes this year.

As the Penn State offense covers more ground, the defense is yielding less. Iowa only mustered 30 rushing yards last Saturday and Purdue only gained 46 two weeks prior, marking the first time in Penn State had ever held back-to- back Big Ten opponents to less than 50 yards rushing.

Perhaps the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year right now is PSU running back Saquon Barkley. Over the past four games, he has rushed for 675 yards while averaging 8.3 yards per carry. In his first five games, he gained 380 yards rushing while averaging 4.4 yards per attempt. Barkley’s 11 rushing touchdowns rank second in the Big Ten behind Minnesota’s Rodney Smith.

From a Heisman perspective, Barkley is averaging more yards per carry (6.3) than Florida State’s Dalvin Cook (5.8). He has more explosive runs of 20-plus yards (15) than Texas’ D’Onta Foreman (13). When Barkley is not hit behind the line of scrimmage, he boasts the nation’s top average (8.46 ypc) among backs with at least 100 carries – better than Cook (7.05) or Foreman (7.72).

Why Bet on Indiana?

The Hoosiers are carrying a winning streak of their own, as they have defeated Maryland and Rutgers in its last two outings to improve to 5-4 overall and 3-3 in the Big Ten. It’s the first time IU has back-to-back Big Ten games in consecutive seasons since 2006 and 2007. Indiana is 3-3 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2006.

The Hoosiers boast the third-ranked offense in the Big Ten and rely on their passing game, which is averaging 298.1 yards per game to rank second in conference. Quarterback Richard Lagow ranks second in the Big Ten with 2,574 passing yards, and his favorite targets, Nick Westbrook and Ricky Jones both rank in the top five in the Big Ten for reception yards per game.

In last week’s 33-27 win over Rutgers, Lagow started the game on fire, connecting on 14 of his first 16 passing attempts, including a 36-yard touchdown to Jones. Lagow finished with 394 yards on 28 completions in 40 and three touchdowns, his third three-TD game. The defense was able to hold the Rutgers in check the majority of the final three quarters. On the Scarlet Knights’ final 15 drives, IU held RU to 203 yards on 59 plays (3.4 average). Of those 15 drives, 11 of them resulted in a three-and- out, which included seven consecutive.

IU is holding opponents to 390.1 total yards per game, an improvement of 119.4 from last season, the 2nd-largest improvement in the country. Indiana has held its foes to 88.7 fewer passing yards (1st nationally) and 11.0 fewer points (6th).

Indiana at Penn State Free Pick: Penn State

Nittany Lions are 4-0- 1 ATS in their last 5 conference games.
Hoosiers are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games following a straight up win.
Over is 6-1 in Nittany Lions last 7 road games.

Take Penn State in college football betting and over the total.