AAA's VERY EARLY 10* BIG TEN SUPER BLOWOUT!
(NCAAF) Northwestern vs. Penn State,
Point Spread: 11.00 | -110.00 Northwestern (Away)
Result: Win
This is a 10* SUPER BLOWOUT on Northwestern.

I think 1-2 Northwestern keeps this one close enough to escape with a comfortable ATS cover. Penn State's defense is its major strength, but other than that, this is a team with a lot of questions in all other facets and it's these ineffeciencies which I feel the Wildcats can take advantage of this week. The Wildcats weakness is their run game. The Nittany Lions though will be susceptible to the pass I think, Northwestern senior QB Trevor Siemian will be given the green light today to air it out, so far he's connected with 13 different receivers on the season, led by Cameraon Dickson, who has seven receptions for 129 yards. Defense is the one area where Penn State has a big advantage, and that's why this spread is so large. However, that's the only one; while the Nitanny Lions possess a strong run game, Northwestern is very solid against it in allowing just 139.7 yards per game on average thus far. The Wildcats front seven will be looking to take advantage of a very young Penn State offensive line, which will eleviate some of the pressure off the secondary. However, Northwestern catches a break here as Penn State QB Christian Hackenberg has been all over the map as far as his performance so far this year, he struggled against UMass last week and he'll have to keep his eyes on DE Dean Lowry who has collected 2.5 sackes on the season; you'll also want to track Wildcats DE Ifeadi Odengibo, who has two sacks and three forced fumbles. Penn State is vulnerable for a letdown here I think, it has a struggling offensive line and a weak run game and I believe will have its hands full vs. Pat Fitzgerald, who is known for getting his teams to overacheive in these spots. Note that Northwestern is 6-4 ATS its last ten on the road and 4-3 ATS in its last seven as an underdog in the 3.5 to 11 points range; and note that Penn State is already 0-1 ATS this year as a favorite of 3.5 to 11 points and just 2-6 ATS in the same position over the last two. The situation, the numbers and the trends all point to NORTHWESTERN as the sharp wager in this contest.

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