Penn State opened the week as a 9.5-point favorite against Minnesota in Week 11. That held throughout the week, but began to move into Saturday ahead of the 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Beaver Stadium after PJ Fleck’s Golden Gophers were forced to fly to State College on Saturday morning. As the early slate of college football is set to kick off, the Nittany Lions are now 12.5-point favorites.
On Friday afternoon around 4:00 p.m. ET, as Minnesota was preparing to board its chartered flight from Minneapolis to State College, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a rare nationwide ground stop, halting all air travel due to "communications problems at regional air traffic control centers.”
The ground stop was lifted roughly four hours after it was issued, but Minnesota was unable to make the trip on Friday night, and instead reportedly flew out of Minneapolis around 9:10 a.m. CT and landed in State College around Noon ET.
Check-in: The #Gophers football team’s plane touched down in State College, Pa., at noon ET/11 CT on Saturday, a school spokesman said. Kickoff with Penn State is set for 6 p.m. CT.
— Andy Greder (@andygreder) November 14, 2026
With a nighttime kickoff, Penn State/Minnesota was not one of the many games across the country that had to alter its kickoff time, including Oklahoma/Ole Miss, which is now scheduled to be played on Sunday in Norman, but the oddsmakers are seemingly giving the Nittany Lions a more significant edge in the matchup.
Latest odds for Minnesota vs. Penn State Week 11
Odds provided by FanDuel Sportsbook
Moneyline
- Minnesota +390
- Penn State -520
Spread
- Minnesota +12.5 (-110)
- Penn State -12.5 (-110)
Total
- 41.5 (over -120/under +100)
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change. If you or someone you know has a gambling problem and wants help, call 1-800-GAMBLER.
Penn State can take advantage of Minnesota’s travel troubles to reach bowl eligibility
After losing its four games in conference play, the Nittany Lions are riding a two-game win streak into Week 11 at 5-4. Coming out of the bye week, it wasn’t a certainty that head coach Matt Campbell would lead the program back to a bowl game in his first year at the helm, but now with Rutgers and Maryland looming in Weeks 12 and 13, that is almost a certainty.
Minnesota is the most difficult opponent left on the schedule for the Nittany Lions, and even before the FAA’s Friday afternoon ground stop, were two-score favorites. Now, with the Golden Gophers flying in on the day of the game, which is a rarity in college football, it appears even more likely that Campbell’s group can handle Fleck’s to extend the win streak to three.
It’s not necessarily a certainty that the travel issues are the reason the line moved. But it’s hard not to connect the dots.
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