Penn State Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. Appalachian State
Here’s everything you need to know before Saturday’s matchup between Appalachian State and No. 10 Penn State football.
Two teams with new look offenses travel to Happy Valley this Saturday to prove that with key pieces gone they can still move the ball around effectively.
The theme for this game is “how do both of these teams look with their key players departing?”
Appalachian State loses quarterback Taylor Lamb who finished second all-time in passing yards, first all-time in passing touchdowns, and first in single-season touchdown passes in Appalachian State history. New quarterback Zac Thomas has potential to do some damage on his legs and benefits from having running back Jalin Moore and Wide Receiver Thomas Hennigan back for the 2017 season.
Penn State’s losses are far more abundant. The Nittany Lions lose second all-time rushing leader Saquon Barkley, who was referred to as the next Adrian Peterson, The Penn State all-time receptions leader in DaeSean Hamilton, and last seasons reception leader tight end Mike Gesicki. The silver lining is that Trace McSorley returns in 2018 and is already being pegged as the next Baker Mayfield.
Can the Nittany Lions find the right skill position places to avoid the 2007 Michigan treatment in Week 1?
With the opening weekend of college football only days away, here are the details for Penn State’s home opener against Appalachian State.
Date: Saturday, Sept. 1
Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: University Park, Penn.
Venue: Beaver Stadium
TV: BTN
Live Stream: BTN2go
Players to Watch
App State
- RB, Jalin Moore
- QB, Zac Thomas
- CBs, Clifton Duck and Tae Hayes
- WR, Thomas Hennigan
- ILB, Anthony Flory
Penn State
- QB, Trace McSorley
- RB, Miles Sanders
- WR, Juwan Johnson
- DE, Shareef Miller
- OLB, Micah Parsons
Keys to Victory
App State needs for Zac Thomas to be good. Thomas ran like crazy in high school with 1,966 yards and 23 touchdowns between his junior and senior seasons. Penn State is substantially shallow at linebacker and the defense as a whole return a mere two starters and Zac Thomas’ running ability combined with stud back Jalin Moore could really test these new linebackers.
Defensively, the Mountaineers need to make other players beat them. Trace McSorley is a great football player so the key for new defensive coordinator Bryan Brown is to make Miles Sanders beat them.
Penn State simply needs to let Trace McSorley live up to his name. If he goes out there and does what he’s done over the past several seasons, Penn State should have no issues avoiding the upset. The defense is inexperienced and will need to improve as the game goes on and avoid injury, especially at linebacker. This game serves as a great way to introduce new back Miles Sanders and get him comfortable taking on a larger role in the offense.
Betting Odds
Courtesy of Oddshark
Points Spread: Penn State -24
Over/Under: 54
Next. Penn State: 5 bold predictions for 2018. dark
Prediction
It’s Penn State’s game to lose. App State lost a huge playmaker in Taylor Lamb and a fantastic defensive coordinator in Nate Woody and they are going to be trying to figure things out. App State won’t take long to get back to the top of the Sunbelt but it’s going to take some adjustment after Week 1.
Final Score: Penn State 38, App State 13