Penn State is an early 19-point favorite at Rutgers, according to Circa Sports.
Coach James Franklin’s team is coming off two straight wins by a combined 61 points.
After bouncing back from its loss to Ohio State with a 45-14 win at Indiana Nov. 5, Penn State destroyed Maryland, 30-0, this past weekend.
The team is currently 8-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten, with its only losses being to No. 3 Michigan on the road and No. 2 Ohio State at home. Next up for Penn State is Rutgers, who it will face in Piscataway, New Jersey, Nov. 19. Rutgers is 4-6, and needs to win its last two games to become bowl eligible. The Scarlet Knights are struggling this season, and have struggled historically against Penn State. In a series that dates back to 1918, Rutgers is 2-30 against Penn State.
The Knights won the first meeting, 26-3, and didn’t win another until 1988. The teams didn’t play from the 1996 season through 2013, but rekindled their series when Rutgers began playing in the Big Ten during the 2014 season. Penn State won the first conference meeting, 14-10, in Piscataway, and won the next seven as well. The most recent meeting took place last November. Despite the team being stricken with a campus-wide illness, Penn State shook off a slow start to win, 28-0, behind the quarterbacking of Christian Veilleux.
Aside from 2014, Penn State has beaten Rutgers by no fewer than 13 points every season since the Scarlett Knights joined the Big Ten.
Penn State and Rutgers are scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 on the Big Ten Network this coming Saturday.
