Nebraska, Michigan, Maryland, and Iowa Give the Big Ten a Third Chance. Vegas Big Ten Predictions for Week 4 Here.
Saturday Blitz Vegas Big Ten Predictions Week 4
Massachusetts Minutemen at Penn State Nittany Lions
Line: Penn State by 26.5
All of a sudden, the Penn State Nittany Lions look like a team that could win the Big Ten. Despite sneaking out two victories so far, they are 3-0 and playing in what has turned out to be a very bad conference with their sanctions lifted. With UMASS now coming to town, quarterback Christian Hackenberg is going to look to continue his success in the passing game, as he already has 1,082 yards on the season. However, that offense has to be better at finishing drives, which almost cost the team in Week 1. Penn State can clearly move the ball. Finishing the job is the problem. Perhaps James Franklin will want to work on finding a running game this weekend as the Nittany Lions have looked bad at different times in all three wins due to being one-dimensional. With UMASS looking to throw it all over the field, this would be the perfect time to establish a rushing attack.
The Minutemen, meanwhile, are coming in looking awful with an 0-3 start, but they played Vanderbilt and Colorado very close. This team could eventually pull out a close, lucky win against another decent team if it forces enough mistakes. Quarterback Blake Frohnapfel looked better his last two games than that opening debacle against Boston College, but he still has completed less than 50 percent of his passes and has forced drives to stall. With no rushing attack, that can’t happen Saturday, and the defense has got to find a way to get stops. If they can keep Hackenberg in check, this game could be closer than Penn State would like.
Prediction
Sometimes teams have seasons where they win ugly. That looks like it’s going to be the case for Penn State this year. The Nittany Lions are going to have a bad half against the Minutemen, but they’ll have a good one as well and put up enough points for another comfortable win. Massachusetts will move to 0-4 and see signs of encouragement, but this time it won’t be a close loss when the final score shows.
Penn State: 27 Massachusetts: 6