For nearly three and a half quarters, it seemed just like the No. 15 Penn State Nittany Lions had been set to take down No. 2 Ohio State. The Buckeyes offense mustered 16 factors via the primary 50 or so minutes of the sport.
Then, an offensive explosion noticed Ohio State rating 28 fourth quarter factors, leaving the Nittany Lions with no solutions of their 44-31 loss. Nonetheless, Penn State did show worthwhile for bettors, by backdoor protecting the 15.5-point chalk within the waning minutes.
Now, James Franklin and the Nittany Lions face an Indiana Hoosiers program, losers of 5 straight video games, however have suffered one-score slim defeats within the final two video games. Because of this, the Hoosiers enter the sport as 14-point residence underdogs at Caesars Sportsbook.
Whereas Penn State has received seven of the final eight matchups, and 18 of 20 video games general Indiana since 2000, the Nittany Lions have struggled in Bloomington defensively over their final 5 matchups, giving up a mean of practically 30 factors towards the Hoosiers.
The final time the Nittany Lions confronted Indiana in Bloomington was the controversial ending in 2020, the place then Hoosiers quarterback Michael Penix, now a member of the Washington Huskies, outstretched his arm and took down Penn State on a two-point conversion.
Penn State received final season, 24-0, however the Nittany Lions have did not cowl the unfold towards the Hoosiers in three of their final 4 matchups, relationship again to 2018. Below Franklin, Penn State is an excellent 4-4 towards the unfold when going through Indiana since 2014, in accordance with OddsShark.
Indiana has struggled to complete video games this season. Nonetheless, their lone Energy 5 win this season got here towards No. 16 Illinois of their season opener, a recreation the place they had been favored by one level. Since then, the Hoosiers had been favored two different occasions, towards Idaho (24.5-point favorites) and Western Kentucky (seven-point favorites) and did not cowl in each video games.
» READ MORE: ‘We will’t dwell on this’: Penn State wants to show the web page after disappointing end vs. Ohio State
That is the fourth time this season Penn State has been favored by a double-digit margin, failing to cowl towards Northwestern (+25.5) and Central Michigan (+28). It’s additionally the Hoosiers’ fourth time as double-digit underdogs, protecting towards Michigan (+23.5) and Maryland (+11) however failing to cowl in an early-season loss to the Cincinnati Bearcats (+16.5).
With the Huge Ten Championship out of attain for the Nittany Lions, this could possibly be a first-rate letdown spot coming off an emotional loss to Ohio State. Couple that with the unknown scenario surrounding the quarterbacks, between beginning the freshman Drew Allar or sticking with veteran signal-caller Sean Clifford, taking the Nittany Lions to cowl could possibly be a cautionary story.
The time to wager on Indiana is now, earlier than the road drops any additional. Anticipate Penn State to win, however protecting the 14-point margin may be an excessive amount of to ask.
Betting Line: Penn State -14; O/U: 50.5
IND: +430
PSU: -600
*Penn State is 5-3 towards the unfold in 2022, whereas Indiana is 3-5 ATS.
» READ MORE: Full sports activities betting protection from The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Inquirer isn’t an internet playing operator, or a playing web site. We offer this details about sports activities betting for leisure functions solely.