Friday night college football is back, and we have got a great matchup on tap. Penn State comes to town to take on Northwestern, and even though I can’t legally wager on it in my home state, I will be watching closely. Let’s break down where these two teams are heading into tonight’s game.
Penn State has the big brand name, but let’s be honest, they haven’t lived up to that hype for over a decade. The last time the Nittany Lions finished a season with one or fewer losses? Way back in 2005. Since then, they’ve had some decent years, but nothing that screams elite powerhouse. They did make the College Football Playoff in 2024 and won in the first round, but this season is sitting at 3-1 after dropping their first Big Ten game. That loss was a frustrating 24-20 defeat at home to Wisconsin. It wasn’t a blowout, but it was a game they should have won, and now they are sitting unranked.
Northwestern, on the other hand, is used to flying under the radar. They roll into this one at 2-1, and having a winning season is usually a surprise for the Wildcats. They started the year with a solid 34-18 win over San Diego State, then went out and absolutely walloped Deion Sanders and Colorado 41-7. Now, that blowout looked more like Colorado being flat-out bad than Northwestern being super elite. But last week, they showed a lot of heart, hanging tough with Indiana on the road and losing a close 29-23 game.
So, we have a classic matchup of two teams coming off losses. Penn State has the edge on offense, but I don’t think it is as massive as people think. Northwestern has the defensive personnel to keep up with the Lions, but they probably aren’t going to completely shut them down. I don’t see Northwestern pulling the upset here, and honestly, the line has already moved, so betting on the Wildcats outright is too risky. Instead, I am backing the over 45.5. With both teams facing a short week, I expect both offenses to get going and put up some serious points. This has shootout written all over it.
