College football is officially back! Penn State will open up its season at Purdue against the Boilermakers on Thursday night.
Several experts have already submitted their picks for this week. The Nittany Lions come into this season with some key talent lost on their defense but a strong offense after the addition of Western Kentucky transfer wide receiver [autotag]Mitchell Tinsley[/autotag].
As for Purdue, many analysts are high on senior quarterback Aidan O’Connell and expect him to take a leap in 2022. While Penn State lost [autotag]Jahan Dotson[/autotag] to the NFL, Purdue is without both David Bell (NFL) and Milton Wright (ruled academically ineligible). In addition, they will have big shoes to fill replacing George Karlaftis.
So, who are the experts picking for this matchup?
To start, ESPN currently has Penn State with a 60.2% to beat Purdue while the Boilermakers have a 39.8% chance to win.
Next up, we’ve got the writers over at College Football News. Of the multitude of writers they have, their consensus pick was that Penn State would defeat the Boilermakers.
Now, let’s head over to the Sportsbook Wire and take a look at the Tipico betting lines. As of Sunday, the spread has Penn State with a -3.5 and the money line is Penn State at -170 and Purdue at +141.
If you want to break down the rosters a bit more, Dotson is a big loss for Penn State, but with the addition of Tinsley and still having [autotag]Parker Washington[/autotag] and [autotag]KeAndre Lambert-Smith[/autotag] and even a talented tight end duo in [autotag]Theo Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Brenton Strange[/autotag], much of their success will lie on [autotag]Sean Clifford[/autotag].
As for Purdue, losing Bell and Wright will be tough for them, but they do have pass-catchers with plenty of experience. Broc Thompson enters his second season at Purdue after transferring in from Marshall, and Charlie Jones comes in after spending a year at Buffalo and Iowa. O’Connell is also poised for a big season as well.
It all starts Thursday for the Nittany Lions as they take on Purdue under the lights. As of right now, many experts have the Boilermakers handing Penn State their first loss of the season right away in Week 1.
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