The early odds are out for Penn State football’s game against Purdue Oct. 31.
Despite PSU currently being on a four-game losing streak, Penn State is still a decent favorite over Purdue, with the early line coming in at 7.5 points per FanDuel Sportsbook.
This isn’t nearly what people expected the spread to be coming into the season.
Before the year, Penn State was expected to be one of the better teams in the Big Ten, with some even pegging it as a College Football Playoff team.
Purdue, meanwhile, was expected to be a Big Ten bottom-feeder. Neither team has met its expectations.
BETTER BOILERS
This year’s Purdue team isn’t going to remind anybody of the Joe Tiller years, but it hasn’t been bad, either. The Boilers are 3-4 overall and 2-2 in the Big Ten. The two teams Purdue beat- Illinois on the road and Minnesota (by 28) at home- each pulled big upsets over the weekend, with Illinois beating Oregon and Minnesota beating No. 15 Iowa at home. Even in Purdue’s losses, it hasn’t been the pushover that most expected. In the second game of the season, Purdue lost in double overtime by two to Wake Forest. Wake Forest is currently 6-1 and ranked No. 14, with its only loss being to No. 1 Miami.
Add Nittany Sports Now as a preferred source in Google! Click here to add us.The next week, Purdue opened the Big Ten season against Bob Chesney’s UCLA Bruins, and lost 52-38 in a game that Purdue trailed by just seven entering the fourth quarter. UCLA is 7-0 and ranked No. 7. With the exception of a 49-10 loss to Notre Dame Sept. 26, Purdue has either won or been in each of its seven games, which for a rebuilding program, is no small feat.
ANY WIN WILL DO
Usually when Penn State plays Purdue, it’s the type of matchup where PSU fans not only expect the team to win, but are bothered if the win isn’t by a comfortable margin. Although that’s probably the case with some people this year, it really shouldn’t be. Penn State has lost four straight, is 0-4 in the Big Ten and has dropped 10 of its last 13 conference games. So fans aren’t in a position to be greedy.
The last time Purdue won in Happy Valley was 2004, amid what PSU fans call the program’s “dark age.” If the Boilers pull an upset Saturday, it will have fans further worried that another “dark age” is around the corner.
Penn State-Purdue is slated to kick off at 4:15 on the Big Ten Network.
