Less than two weeks out from Penn State Football opening the 2023 season against West Virginia in Beaver Stadium on September 2nd, at least one sports book isn’t giving the Mountaineers much of a chance to pull off the upset.
Fanduel’s line for the Week 1 tilt has held steady at Penn State -20.5 with a Penn State moneyline of -1450.
The -20.5 line is the highest line for Penn State since October 1, 2022, against Northwestern, where Penn State failed to cover but pulled out a sloppy 17-7 victory in a game filled with rain and turnovers.
The line will also be Penn State’s highest in a season opener since 2019 when Penn State opened the season as 42-point favorites against Idaho. Penn State ultimately covered the 42 points in a dominating 79-7 win.
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According to Odds Shark, in 2022, Penn State opened the season as a three-point road favorite against Purdue, where Penn State covered in a thrilling 35-31 win.
Penn State Football was a 20+ point favorite in three games last season against Ohio, Central Michigan, and Northwestern. In all three games, Penn State pulled out a win, but the Nittany Lions were only able to cover the spread against Ohio.
Overall, in 2022, Penn State 9-3-1 against the spread. While winning games is most important for a team’s season goals, covering the spread can have effect on bowl selection and national perception for AP poll voters.
Some fans may remember Sean Clifford stressing the need to cover the 19-point spread against Michigan State last November.
“We have to cover” 😳
Sean Clifford tried his best for Penn State -19 bettors 😂 pic.twitter.com/nxE1DYfQLY
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) November 27, 2022
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Penn State Football will start the season with sky high expectations and ranking in the top 7 in the AP top 25 poll. Penn State can look to prove themselves worthy of the high ranking and expectations by coming out strong in week one against West Virginia.
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Education: Saint Vincent College, Penn State Law School
Location: Washington, DC
Experience:Robert Casturo has covered Penn State football for NittanyCentral since 2022. Casturo previously covered Penn State football through a social media presence (@PSU_FB_Thoughts on X) since 2019. Casturo earned his bachelor's degree from Saint Vincent College in 2015, where he was a punter for 1 season on the Saint Vincent College football team and worked in the athletic department for 2 years as a student manager. Casturo earned his JD from Penn State Law in 2018 where he was a senior editor of the Penn State Law Review.
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