Penn State football: Bowling Green odds, injury report, & prediction

Penn State football will look to build off its impressive 34-12 win over West Virginia in Week 1 when they take on Bowling Green on Saturday at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions enter as heavy favorites over the Falcons, but the weather could be a factor in the outcome. Here are the current betting odds and pregame outlook for the week 2 matchup.

The Nittany Lions enter as a much higher favorite according to the betting odds than last week in Morgantown. Both Penn State and Bowling Green covered the spread in Week 1. The Nittany Lions are 15-4-1 ATS in their past 20 games. Bowling Green is 5-1 ATS in their last 6 road games.

Penn State leads the all-time series 2-0. The last matchup between the teams took place in 1998 at Beaver Stadium, resulting in a 48-3 Nittany Lion victory.

The total has gone under in 4 of Penn State’s last 5 games. The total has gone over in 5 of Bowling Green’s last 7 games. The total has gone over in 7 of the Falcon’s last 9 games played in September.

Penn State opened the season with a statement 34-12 win over West Virginia last Saturday. The offense looked explosive under new offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki, something that fans haven’t seen in years. Tom Allen appears to have the defense humming right where Manny Diaz left them. Drew Allar looks confident and more accurate than what we saw in 2023.

Whenever a Big Ten team plays a MAC team, the odds are always stacked against the visiting school. Add in that Penn State is ranked No. 8 in the country and fresh off a great victory. There is some concern that weather could play a factor in this matchup, as rain is expected from morning to early afternoon. It remains to be seen when that rain subsides, but turnovers could be a factor.

No matter what the forecast, the Nittany Lions have way too much talent for this game to be close. Penn State should not only cover the spread with ease but also hit the over by themselves. The hardest prediction is how many points Bowling Green scores, whether that is an early surprise touchdown or garbage time score. 

Prediction: Penn State 56 – Bowling Green 10

Maryland -8.5 vs Michigan State 3:30 pm ET BTN

Who would have thought that both USC and LSU figured some things out defensively in the offseason? We take last week’s loss like a goldfish and move on to week 2. I like Maryland to cover the spread against Michigan State this week. The line has been hovering just under 10, and the Terps are coming off an impressive 50-7 win over Uconn in week 1.

Yes, I know it is UConn, but Michigan State struggled with a 16-10 win over Florida Atlantic. Take the Terps minus the points as I see this game ending up with a comfortable two-touchdown margin.