Yes football fans, the 2015 NCAA Football Season Week 12 is here and we have a Big 10-East rival game between the No. 14 Wolverines of Michigan 8-2 playing at the Nittany Lions of Penn State 7-3 with the game being played at the Beaver Stadium at University Park, Pennsylvania on Saturday the 21st of November 2015 with kick-off scheduled for 12:05 PM ET and seen on ABC TV.
At SBG for those that Bet on College football the early odds are favoring the Wolverines of Michigan at -4 with the Over/under at 42 and -200 on the ML, while the underdog Nittany Lions of Penn State are at +4 and +170 on the ML.
This is a game whereby the No. 14 Wolverines must win if they still are seeking a Big 10 East Title, as their key rival the No. 13 Spartans of Michigan State are playing the undefeated No.2 Buckeyes of Ohio State this Saturday. That and the Wolverines in this game play conference rival the Nittany Lions of Penn State who are also seeking the East Title. It will be interesting to see who wins this crucial Big 10 game for both teams.
If you follow, or are a fan of the 8-2 Big Ten Wolverines of Michigan you are aware your team overcame the Hoosiers of Indiana this past Saturday 48-41, and succeeded as their QB J. Rudock led the team passing for 6 TD’s and 440 yards, and previously he had never passed for more than 3 TD’s in a game.
However in this game he might struggle in the passing game as the Nittany Lions have only allowed their opponents some 158 yards passing each game, and that ranks 1st in the Big Ten. Prior to the game with the Hoosiers QB Rudock in his previous starts was not able to pass for more than 200 yards in those 7 games. Then keep in mind Wolverine fans, the Penn State defense has allowed the 2nd fewest TD passes in the Big Ten, and that just might keep QB Rudock from completing TD passes.
Thus, if the Wolverines fail to score with their passing game, surely they will revert to their running game which will have a lot of yardage to gain. The teams star RB. D. Smith in their last 5 games to gain more than 73 yards a game, as on 63 carries he gained only 250 yards and only 1 TD in those games. Against the Lions he must improve!
The offense for the Wolverines will have their defense working for them which ranks the 2nd best in College football as they allow only 237 yards offensively each game this season. Their defense is led by top pass rushers in Seniors W. Henry and C. Wormley who is the strength of their front 7 as Henry has 6 sacks and Wormley has 4 sacks this season. Those 2 will cause problems for the Penn State offense which has permitted 33 sacks this season and that leads their conference.
For the avid fans of the 7-3 Big Ten Nittany Lions of Penn State surely you know your team possesses a great defense that has excelled and rank 3rd on forced turnovers with 19 this 2015. They also hold the record this season in the Big Ten with the most sacks at 42 from their pass rushing defense. This may be a game that they will have to win with their defensive performances, especially after their week 9 loss to Northwestern 23-21.
Their star on defense has been DL C. Nassib who has a conference and nation high of 16 sacks in 2015. Also DL A. Johnson has 6 sacks and LB B. Bell has 5 sacks, and they will seek to penetrate the Wolverines offensive line that this season has only allowed a total of 14 sacks.
Their main problem is that this Penn State team is lacking on talent on offense. Their QB C. Hackenberg has been fairly solid passing for 13 TD’s and 1,990 yards with just 3 intercepts. But the lack of talent lies with the WR’s as prime target C. Godwin has only 808 yards on receptions and 3 TD’s, while D. Hamilton only has 427 yards on receptions and 5 TD’s to date.
Their QB Hackenberg needs to become accustomed to pass rush pressure since his offensive line struggles and to date they have allowed their QB to be sacked some 33 times to date. That and the Wolverines just happen to have a very tough defensive passing unit that has only allowed opponents to some 166 yards each game this season. Thus, QB Hackenberg will likely be passing into strong coverage that can result in interceptions and incomplete passes. To date this season the Nittany Lions in their last 6 games at home they have won all 6.
The prediction is that the Michigan defense is too much for the Penn State, and therefore the Wolverines will cover the spread and have a dominating victory in this game over the Nittany Lions.