The Friday night B1G game this week features the Penn State Nittany Lions at the Northwestern Wildcats. These teams are both projected to finish in the middle of the pack in the conference standings, so a head-to-head game is always a big one. Last week, Penn St lost at home to Wisconsin on a wild final play. Northwestern, on the other hand, gave Indiana all they wanted before ultimately falling in a close game. Penn St comes into Friday as a narrow favorite, but I don’t see it. I think this Northwestern team is actually pretty good, and I will take the points with the Wildcats.
Penn State is mostly Matt Campbell’s Iowa State roster from last year, including QB Rocco Becht. Last week against Wisconsin, the offense looked awful, and the passing game especially so. That game was the first true measuring stick for this team after beating 3 small conference opponents to open the season. They will likely struggle again, as Northwestern had a top-25 defense last season, and their back 7 mostly returned intact. Northwestern, of course, added Chip Kelly as the OC, and while this team will be undersized up front most weeks, they have some pieces to work with on offense. I think Northwestern can generate enough offense, and their defense should hold up just fine. Give me the Wildcats here.
Penn State vs Northwestern prediction: Northwestern +2.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +1.
