Penn State @ Purdue (Week 10 Preview & Prediction)
The Nittany Lions 5-3 overall hit the road this Saturday to West Lafayette to face the Boilermakers (3-5). The Lions are coming off a tough home loss to Ohio State 35-23 in prime time last Saturday. Danny Hope has been placed on the hot seat at Purdue and is circling the wagons having lost four in a row by an average of (19.5) per game. Hope is shaking things up this week by starting senior QB Robert Marve in favor of classmate Caleb Terbush who was ineffective in a 44-28 loss at Minnesota last week. Penn State has shown resiliency all season and there is no reason to believe they won’t here as their path of destination with their sanctions were set out early on this season.
Purdue is surprising for all the wrong reasons. They played very well back in September losing 20-17 to currently undefeated Notre Dame. Most people were on board with the Boilers after that performance but early home losses to Michigan and Wisconsin deflated this heavily upper-class dominated squad. Purdue led last week at Minnesota 7-0 prior to falling behind 44-7 before Marve entered to tack on three scores to make the final score look closer than it really was. Coach Hope is really feeling the heat and he finds himself and staff under fire.
The Nittany Lions had won five in a row after a 0-2 start and have made great strides in October. Senior QB Matt McGloin has completed (62%) of his passes and the ground game is averaging (135) yards per game. The Penn State defense led by linebacker Michael Mauti and corner Landon Feichter will look to zero in on the Boiler attack.
Penn State -3.5 @ Purdue (Betting Prediction)
At 3-5 the home standing Boilermakers will come out tight and an opportunistic Nittany Lion defense will feast on turnovers. Marve has thrown six touchdowns versus two interceptions but the Lion defense will make it hard to operate and McGloin and company on offense will be mistake free and utilize offensive possessions to bleed the clock. Purdue does have an edge in the special teams department but one coach is firmly entrenched, the other is waiting for a knock at the office door by the athletic director. Prediction: Nittany Lions 31 Boilermakers 17
Play: Penn State -3.5 (Bookmaker.eu)
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