It wasn’t exactly a secret that the odds would favor Penn State over Marshall in its season opener Sept. 5.
The question was: by how much?
Now, we know.
FanDuel Sportsbook has Penn State favored by 24.5-points, and it’s likely that Penn State’s other two non-conference games will tell a similar story. For the second straight season, Penn State doesn’t have a Power 4 OOC opponent. After Marshall, Penn State will take on Temple in Philadelphia before returning to Beaver Stadium to close out the non-conference slate against Buffalo. Along with being outside of the Power Four, none of these three programs were particularly good last year.
Marshall finished 5-7. Temple also went 5-7.
Buffalo won five games and lost seven.
So Penn State is going to be heavy favorites in each of these games, which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that Penn State hasn’t lost a non-conference game since 2016.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The bad news is that Penn State was favored by three touchdowns in last seasons losses to UCLA and Northwestern, which led to the firing of James Franklin.
That firing led to PSU hiring Matt Campbell, who turned Iowa State football around after over his 10-year tenure. The Marshall game will be an unfamiliar occasion for Penn State fans: the debut of a new coach. Since 1950, Penn State has only employed five full-time head coaches, with Campbell being No. 5.
Time will tell what becomes of the Campbell era, but that question will start to be answered Sept. 5 against Marshall, and it’s expected to begin with a win.
