Betting lines, game preview, and prediction for Penn State vs. Minnesota

Two more wins … two more wins …

Penn State has the sweetest spot in the College Football Playoff mix.

It’s in the tournament at 11-1, AND it doesn’t have to play a 13th game in a Big Ten Championship, AND it gets three weeks off to rest, AND it’ll get a home game, but first it has to beat Minnesota and get by Maryland. Lose either of those two, and the deal’s off.

Minnesota got bowl eligible two weeks ago against Illinois and took the momentum and immediately faceplanted in a loss to Rutgers. Now it gets to play the spoiler role.

Beat Penn State, make Penn State sad. Beat Wisconsin in the regular season finale, make Wisconsin sad – the Badgers need a win one of its last two games to go bowling; it gets Nebraska this week.

Penn State vs Minnesota: How to Watch and Game Preview

Date: Saturday, November 23, 2024
Game Time: 3:30 pm ET
How To Watch: CBS
Venue: Huntington Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN
Teams: Minnesota (6-4), Penn State (9-1)

Why Penn State Will Win

As always, the Penn State lines are great.

The offensive line is not putting any pressure on the running backs, the running game is killing the defense, and the front of the defense has been solid against the run. The best part is that the ground game is getting better.

Even though a lot of teams are hitting Purdue hard, Penn State did its part by rushing for almost seven yards per carry last week.

Their running game was great, too—they gained 266 yards and 6.7 yards per carry—and their passing game is also working well.

Minnesota is 4-0 when teams are held to less than 105 rushing yards, 2-4 when teams are allowed more, and…

Why Minnesota Will Win

Let it go.

The defense makes a lot of mistakes, the offense does not turn the ball over, and the pass defense does a great job of limiting big downfield plays.

Soon, we will talk more about the ground game that will likely decide the winner. For now, Max Brosmer needs to keep throwing to test the Nittany Lion defense.

He might not hit 70% like he does when the offense is really going, but he is been careful with the ball and making smart choices. He needs to loosen up a bit to give the ground game more room to move because

Penn State vs Minnesota: Who Will Win?

For the last few years under PJ Fleck, Minnesota’s running game has not been like this, but the team is 5-0 when it goes over 80 yards and 1-4 when it doesn’t. However, the Gophers scored 116 yards in those five wins. Penn State has only given up that many yards or more three times.

The Nittany Lions are going to fight. It will be hard to score because the Gopher defense will step up and be great against the run. Nittany Lion quarterback Drew Allar will not take many shots down the field either.

The Penn State defense will finally stop the game late, but it will take a lot of work.