Penn State Football: 3 Big Ten games to watch during Week 4 bye

By Zac Voynow | Sep 19, 2019

GLENDALE, AZ - DECEMBER 30: Fans of the Penn State Nittany Lions sing their school alma mater after defeating the Washington Huskies in the Playstation Fiesta Bowl at University of Phoenix Stadium on December 30, 2017 in Glendale, Arizona. The Nittany Lions defeated the Huskies 35-28. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

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2. Michigan State at Northwestern (12 p.m. ET on ABC)

The Michigan State Spartans travel to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats. Michigan State is a 9.5-point favorite.

The Spartans are looking for a bounce-back win after their heartbreaking loss to Arizona State at home last weekend. They need to right the ship and pickup wins this weekend against Northwestern, and next weekend against Indiana before their big time matchup with Ohio State in Columbus.

Michigan State has one of the best defenses in the nation, but its offense is coming off a game which it could only muster seven points. Look for Michigan State to try and establish the run game early before letting Brian Lewerke get trigger happy. The Spartans prefer rushing the football over passing and I believe they will start out the game with an old-school mindset.

Northwestern is an interesting team this season in the Big Ten. The Wildcats played a pretty tough two non-conference games this season. They lost in Week 1 to a strong Stanford team 17-7 before beating UNLV 30-14 last week. Northwestern is another Big Ten team with a strong defense and a preference for running the football. The Wildcats average 184.5 rushing yards per game.

Northwestern will test Michigan State, but I believe the Spartans will walk away with a 24-14 victory.

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