Penn State Football: 5 reasons Lions will beat Kentucky in Citrus Bowl

3. Kentucky has Benny Snell and not much else

Before people jump on the statement, Kentucky has enough on defense to shut down the Lions offense and possibly win the game. However, their offense will not provide much help if the Lions stop Benny Snell.

The junior running back will be playing his last game in a Kentucky uniform as he will head to the NFL. Snell had a great season with over 1300 yards, averaging five yards a carry and finding the end zone 14 times. He is the centerpiece of the Wildcat offense.

While sophomore Terry Wilson is an accurate passer, 67.6 completion rate on the season, he does not throw for a ton of yards. The Wildcat passing game averages less than 11 yards per completion and Wilson only threw 11 touchdowns to eight interceptions this season. He’s not going to win the game for them with his arm so if the Lions shut down Snell, the Wildcats will be in big trouble.

Shutting down Snell will be a tall order for the Nittany Lion defense. They can be run on and allowed five opposing running backs to rush for over 100 yards. However, Penn State won four of those five games, the lone loss of the five being the blowout at Michigan. Even when Penn State gives up chunk yards on the ground, their defense finds other ways to shut down teams. Snell will get his yards, but the Lions will basically take out the rest of the Kentucky offense.