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Penn State vs Rutgers: Prediction roundtable

By Barry Leonard Jr.

STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 21: Shareef Miller
STATE COLLEGE, PA - OCTOBER 21: Shareef Miller /
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Penn State football
EAST LANSING, MI – NOVEMBER 04: Head coach James Franklin of the Penn State Nittany Lions leads his team onto the field to play the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium on November 4, 2017 in East Lansing, Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Marty Leap, Contributor

In the past two weeks the Nittany Lions have watched their College Football Playoff dreams vanish in the form of two heartbreaking road losses. Factor in injuries and this team has a lot of warts at the moment. Luckily for the Nittany Lions, they have a great cure all this Saturday in the form of a home date with Rutgers.

The 4-5 Scarlet Knights have been better than expected this season. That said, they are still a bad football team and one of the worst Penn State will see this season. There is no reason this game should be even the least bit competitive on Saturday.

Saquon Barkley and the rushing attack has stalled the past five games. Dating back to the Indiana game, only once (vs Michigan) has Barkley gone over 100 yards. Part of this is due to Penn State’s last five opponents all ranking in the top 26 nationally in rush defense, and part of it is due to poor offensive line play. The Nittany Lions figure to still be without their best offensive lineman left tackle Ryan Bates on Saturday, however, the running game should see a resurgence against the Scarlet Knights.

Led by Saquon Barkley, Penn State has rushed for over 330 yards each of the past two seasons against Rutgers. While it would be a surprise to see the Nittany Lions repeat those numbers on Saturday, I do believe that ex-Rutgers commit Saquon Barkley torches the Scarlet Knights one last time in his college career as he begins a three-game effort to try and save his Heisman Trophy dreams.

I also look for a defense that has gone from elite to unable to stop any sort of forward pass the past two weeks to answer the bell against a poor Rutgers offense on Saturday. Look for the defense to hold the Scarlet Knights to under 250 yards of offense, record a turnover or two, and pile up the TFLs.

There is no reason to panic over two road losses, by a combined four points to boot, against two very good teams. If Penn State struggles with, or, god forbid, loses to Rutgers then there will be plenty of reason to panic. But have no fear, for this game will not even be close.

Penn State 45
Rutgers 10

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