The only Las Vegas line out today has the 'Cats as 14 point dogs. Bet the 'Cats, who have a decent chance to win outright. PSU was very fortunate to beat Iowa on a fourth down play with 4 seconds to go. Iowa was handled relatively easily by MSU this weekend.
PSU Line
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Give me the current line and I'll bet anybody who wants to bet. Also, what kind of odds will you give me against a 'Cats outright win? (I assume you'll be at the game, so the payoff could occur there.)
Wager NJ....uh Fitzphile his screenname again. It's much more fun when you win, the gift that keeps on giving....
You bet against them in basketball when they played Penn State. How quickly we forget....
PSU outgained Iowa 579-273. You could say Iowa was extremely lucky to have a late lead in that game.
Penn State has a bye after the NU game, then Michigan and @ tOSU. NU can definitely win if Penn State starts slowly or is looking ahead. And Penn State’s TE is banged up. That said, Herman Munster is no longer the Penn State QB. Last score wins the game, just like 2015.
Too much for me, but I'll do $20. I would assume I'll get the 14 points. Suppose the line goes up by Saturday? Do I get the last line before kick-off? What odds will you give me on the even-up bet? I assume you will be at the game, so we can settle our bets at our tailgate. It's right next to the Families of Players under the green Rolling Rock tent.
You know, I actually believed that we would be blown out in our first two games, but then recover, but your looking ahead comments (and the fact that we were in fact not blown out by Wisky) have me rethinking that comment.
But I can't get past that PSU is a top-5 Sagarin team with no clear weaknesses to me. I guess Penn State is due for a poor effort, but they just appear to be at such a high level right now.. They are #2 in the BIG in scoring offense, and #1 in scoring defense (by a WIDE margin). That is just amazing to me and I can't get past seeing anything but a blowout here. Hope I am wrong like I was last week, of course!
It will be a very interesting game that could go either way -- I could see a PSU blowout or a Northwestern win, but ultimately I feel that it'll be a 1 or 2 touchdown game.
For the Iowa game -- remember a few things if you are trying to compare that to MSU last week. First, PSU had over 300 more total yards than Iowa, but just couldn't finish drives (our FG team is really lacking this year too, and there was an EXTREMELY questionable fumble/pass call that I still cannot fathom how they did not review that one - was potentially very costly too).
Second, you are trying to compare Iowa in a night game at Kinnick, high on excitement of playing #4, to a day game @ MSU? Iowa is now 3-1 in night games at Kinnick against top 5 opponents. Yes, this was their first loss. Atmosphere is a huge deal when you have a large enough stadium, if you do not take the crowd out of the game early.
For the Iowa game -- remember a few things if you are trying to compare that to MSU last week. First, PSU had over 300 more total yards than Iowa, but just couldn't finish drives (our FG team is really lacking this year too, and there was an EXTREMELY questionable fumble/pass call that I still cannot fathom how they did not review that one - was potentially very costly too).
Second, you are trying to compare Iowa in a night game at Kinnick, high on excitement of playing #4, to a day game @ MSU? Iowa is now 3-1 in night games at Kinnick against top 5 opponents. Yes, this was their first loss. Atmosphere is a huge deal when you have a large enough stadium, if you do not take the crowd out of the game early.
I think a Penn State has two weaknesses right now. Their field goal kicking has been way off, making only about 50% so far. And their offensive line is still a work in process, allowing blitzing teams to pressure McSorely or stop Barkley from running effectively. Indiana was effective at this, but Barkley, a likely Heisman Trophy winner, will still get his yards, either through kickoff returns as he showed against a Indiana, or as a receiver out of the backfield. One other possible weakness is the health of their star tight end, Gesecki, who may be held out leading up to the bye week in order to be healthy for the Michigan and OSU games which follow.
I won't talk about their strengths unless asked, and btw my father in law was a Northwestern business school alum, so I married into your family (and vice versa). I'm a Penn State fan and I think we will win the game, but I believe it will be close. All Big10 road games are tough, and playing at 11:00 AM in your venue is ....different. Anyway, I'm not here to troll - good luck and I hope for a well fought injury free game.
I won't talk about their strengths unless asked, and btw my father in law was a Northwestern business school alum, so I married into your family (and vice versa). I'm a Penn State fan and I think we will win the game, but I believe it will be close. All Big10 road games are tough, and playing at 11:00 AM in your venue is ....different. Anyway, I'm not here to troll - good luck and I hope for a well fought injury free game.
Unfortunately I have the marathon Sunday (not to brag, but totally to brag) so I will be watching at home on Saturday but $20, you got it
And you can pick the line now or before kickoff, doesn't matter to me
Never wanted to lose a bet more!
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10/4, excellent doing business with you
I just think NU's defense typically plays better against power backs like Thomas of Wisco, and Barkley could run for about 3 miles worth of yards Saturday. We'll see, hope I'm wrong, but I think it's going to be a lot worse than Wisco
After watching them play a little bit, their OL is surprisingly bad. However, Barkley can do more with less than even a healthy JJTBC can...
They're a good football team, but hardly top 5 material until their OL improves as it likely will. This PSU team I watched versus Iowa and Indiana is a team NU can beat.
I don't necessarily disagree, but Barkley is so good that you can't give him any openings at all. They have several big, talented receivers who will be trouble if the NU secondary continues to break down at inopportune times. I actually am more worried about our chances of getting a running game going against their defense, which is very quick and aggressive. If the Cats get too predictable, Thorson will be on his back a lot again this week.
Their o-line still hasn't completely recovered from the sanctions, but is more solid than in past years. Actually, it doesn't seem to be a vintage year for o-lines in the B1G, period. Michigan hasn't looked great running the ball, and I'm not convinced Ohio State would do that well against top competition (Oklahoma already showed that to some degree).
A lot of people think this will be a blowout but I disagree.
Northwestern plays with grit, always plays until the whistle, tries their hardest each play, and shows good sportsmanship.
Northwestern keeps this close until late in the 1st quarter and PSU wins by 18.
Northwestern plays with grit, always plays until the whistle, tries their hardest each play, and shows good sportsmanship.
Northwestern keeps this close until late in the 1st quarter and PSU wins by 18.
Let's see. Last year for homecoming we won the game. That turned out to be the turning point in our season propelling us to a bowl game. Let history repeat itself Saturday. (FWIW I did show up for last year's homecoming and will be there for this year's as well.)
I place a lot of stock in your observations, MRCat, so this is encouraging. I see, too, that the early forecast is suggesting a real possibility of rain on Saturday. Wondering whether this would play to our advantage with regard to Barkley's running. I don't think I've ever seen him have a bad game. No love for PSU as an institution - and Franklin's a prick - but that kid is one of the best backs we'll ever see, IMO.
Alaska, great to hear that you'll be joining us! Of course, you've told us previously that you'll be bringing your usual supply of reindeer sausage and smoked salmon, which I'm sure will be excellent as usual. You will be happy to hear that I'll be toting 3 dozen large glazed pumpkin cookies from Art's Bakery just like last year. See you at the tailgate!
I agree with your point on the OL, and I was a bit optimistic on the matchup with PSU going into the season actually. I thought our D this year was better equipped to defend a lateral spread-style offense of theirs than a downhill running attack of Wisconsin (I was particularly worried about our DEs in this regard, though they held up respect, at least for a half). Two things make me more worried now though- 1) the erosion of our CB depth, which will cause problems (partly in guarding Hamilton et al, but maybe even more on run support and open field tackling of Barkley); 2) without naming specific names, I have been somewhat less impressed with 1-2 of our LBs tackling abilities this year than I had hoped, which could pose a problem.
Fitz and Hank though I expect will be drilling on how best to contain and tackle Barkley all week long. Like with past otherworldly RB talents (M Gordon for one) I suspect he'll get his yards, but I also suspect we will come up with a game plan to prevent him from completely taking over the game like he did against Iowa and Indiana.
On other weaknesses for PSU - their D is a fairly decent step below Wisconsin's IMO. It's good, don't get me wrong, but I have more confidence in our ability to put up points against them. If we don't turn the ball over, I think we can very realistically score 24+. It won't be easy, and I don't expect a win by any means, but I think a spread of ~10 is more fair than the -14.5 that is showing currently (funny, I said the same thing about last week...)
Wisconsin is much slower than PSU.. you will be surprised at how fast PSU is.. we have 3 guys in our secondary that will play at the next level..and a few AA frosh who are backing them up.. NW is solid effort team.. but don't confuse this team w any PSU team you have played in the past. in order to lose PSU will have to be -3 on turnovers.. our team is +9.. 4th in the country.. maybe the most important stat in football.. watched your game.. Wisky had horrible ball security and you guys did not make them pay.
We should probably not even bother showing up. Maybe you guys can schedule whoever has a bye from the NFL instead.
Did the Penn St fanbase import an SEC fan?
Claim our team (and Wisconsin's) are slow... Check
Cite with unfounded confidence how much pro talent you have... Check
Note that, despite past opponents (or games against PSU even!) we have not played anyone like their team... Check
I guess we'll see. I'm pretty confident Wisconsin has some players on their D who will play on Sundays too, as does ours for that matter. I do agree though that we will almost certainly need to win the turnover battle in order to get a W.