Penn State football an early touchdown favorite in primetime showdown

The oddsmakers do not expect Penn State football to fall victim to a look-ahead trap ahead of next weekend’s potential top-four matchup with Ohio State. Across the board, Vegas has the Nittany Lions as early touchdown favorites over Wisconsin as James Franklin prepares to lead his program into a rowdy Camp Randall Stadium on Saturday night.

According to Vegas Insider, which compiles odds from across the industry, Penn State is a consensus 6.5-point favorite across eight different sportsbooks. Some outlets had opened as high as -10.5 points in favor of the Nittany Lions on Sunday afternoon. The total is projected between 47.5 and 48.5 points.

Wisconsin enters the week off of a 23-3 win at Northwestern on Saturday. The Badgers are currently 5-2 (3-1 Big Ten) on the season, having suffered 32- and 17-point losses to Alabama and USC in consecutive weeks to close out September.

But Luke Fickell has his program playing confidently since those losses. Wisconsin has won its last three games (Purdue, at Rutgers, at Northwestern) by a combined score of 117-16.

Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

“We’re going to be going on the road, night game, and another tough environment, ‘Jump Around,’ all that good stuff,” James Franklin said of the matchup on Tuesday. “Really good program. Well coached. So we’re going to need to take another step this week because these road games are challenging.”

Penn State football holds an 11-9 lead in the series since 1953. Winning the last meeting in 2021, also played at Camp Randall, the Nittany Lions are now on a five-game winning streak in the series. The Nittany Lions are 5-6 all-time against the Badgers in Madison.

Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday evening on NBC’s Big Ten Saturday Night, with Noah Eagle and Penn State football letterman Todd Blackledge on the call.

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