Penn State football could be on upset alert vs. Maryland in Week 5

Penn State football and Maryland kick off Big Ten play in Week 5. Can the Nittany Lions stay undefeated or do the Terps win and get back into the top 25?

The Penn State Nittany Lions are off to a great start this season, sitting at 3-0. The Nittany Lions picked up two blowout wins over Idaho and Buffalo and survived a rainy battle against in-state rival Pitt, before heading into their bye week.

The Maryland Terrapins had a hot start to their season, destroying Howard and exposing Syracuse, earning themselves a 2-0 start and a spot in the AP Top 25. But then the Terps took on Temple and their high-scoring offense was locked down and the Terrapins suffered their first loss of the season.

Even with the Terps setback, this game has a lot of anticipation surrounding it. It is arguably one of the biggest games in Maryland’s program history. And for Penn State, it’s a good tone setter for how could this team really is. It’s time to cancel any Friday plans you might’ve had to watch a game that could have a lot of scoring.

Here’s how you can watch tonight’s game between Penn State and Maryland:

Date: Friday, Sept. 27
Time: 8:00 p.m. ET
Location: College Park, Md.
Venue: Maryland Stadium
TV: FS1
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go

Keys to Victory

The Penn State Nittany Lions have a highly skilled offense but outside of the first game of the season, have yet to play a full game of consistency. Penn State needs to get the offense going early and need to decide on which running back will carry the load.

Also, expect the Penn State offense to get K.J. Hamler more involved as well. The strong point of the Lions’ season has been their defense. Led by Micah Parsons, the Lions’ defense has been dominant thus far this season and is looking to shut down a dangerous Maryland offense.

The Maryland Terrapins offense started the 2019 season with a bang, but as mentioned before, their recent outing had many fans disappointed. The Terps need to get their offense in a groove early or else they could have a repeat performance from Week 3.

On defense, the Terps need to get to the quarterback and eliminate the big plays. Penn State is fast at skill positions so the Terps will need to disciplined and not a low any big yardage plays.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of Bovada

Point Spread: Penn State -7
Over/under: 61

Prediction

While both Penn State and Maryland have talented defenses, in this Big Ten match up, we could see a high scoring display of offense. Maryland’s home atmosphere helps keep them in the game early as they stay within at least one possession of the Nittany Lions throughout the first half. But once again, Penn State shows why it’s a second half team and make the necessary adjustments to take over and win this game. The Terps get a whiff of the endzone in the second half but only land in it twice. Penn State takes this one easily.

Final Score: Penn State 41, Maryland 24