Penn State Football vs. Nevada: Picks, Predictions for College Football Week 1
No. 2 Penn State Football opens up a season with national championship aspirations and expectations in Week 1 against Nevada, Saturday at Beaver Stadium.
Here’s a look how some of our staff expect the Nittany Lions‘ season opener to play out.
Penn State vs. Nevada Predictions:
Robert Shields, Senior Penn State Football Reporter
No. 2 Penn State will not start slow this season against an inferior Nevada Wolf Pack team that returns just one player on defense this season.
Penn State will want to get starters out early to test younger depth throughout the roster, which could allow Nevada to pick up some points on the Penn State backup and reserve defense.
Either way, I have Penn State covering the 45.5-point spread and winning easily to start the season 1-0.
Penn State 55, Nevada 6.
Chris Snyder, Senior Penn State Wrestling Reporter
Last season’s version of Nevada teetered anywhere between “Not great” to “Hey, at least we’re not Kent State” to “Straight up booty cheeks”.
Did they go 3-3 in a six-game stretch, which included wins over Troy and Oregon State? You betcha.
But, after their win over the Beavers, Nevada proceeded to lose six games in a row to finish 3-12. However, Jeff Choate and his staff have pretty much completely overhauled the team as they signed 25 recruits and brought in a staggering 25 guys from the transfer portal.
So, this is definitely not the same Wolf Pack team from last year.
Nevertheless, I still don’t believe they will be a good team this year. Which leads us to what I think will happen this Saturday afternoon in Beaver Stadium.
The final score should never be in doubt. That much I know.
But, I would like to see a couple of things from the Nittany Lions. First and foremost, I want to see the offense looking crisp. I want to see the experienced offensive line to open up big holes, and I want to see Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen gashing the Nevada defense for large chunks of yards. This also includes the play of both Drew Allar and the new trio of receivers. I want to see a confident and decisive Allar ripping throws around the field. And I also want to see clean routes and some actual separation between the receivers and the defense.
The last thing I’m looking for is to see how the linebacker group plays. I have a ton of confidence in the defensive line and the secondary, but with Jim Knowles deploying his 4-2-5 scheme, it may take some time for everyone to be on the same page. Thankfully, the Nittany Lions start the year with Nevada, FIU, and Villanova. That should be plenty of practice before Oregon.
Penn State 41, Nevada 12
Evan Smith, Senior Penn State Basketball Reporter
The Nittany Lions can pick a final score, so they decided to hang half a hundred. The Penn State offense will start the year humming with four different players finding the end zone.
Penn State 51 Nevada 13
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