Penn State football a big favorite vs. Iowa in Week 4

Penn State and Iowa take the spotlight with a primetime Big Ten matchup between top 25 programs in Week 4 this week. The Hawkeyes make their way to Happy Valley as the Nittany Lions roll out the white carpet for the annual whiteout game for the CBS cameras. And it looks like Penn State will once again be a double-digit favorite.

Penn State opened the week as a 14.5-point favorite according to FanDuel. This is the fourth time to start this season Penn State has been a double-digit favorite. And the beating trends do continue to favor Penn State in a few ways heading into this weekend’s matchup.

Here is a look at the updated betting lines for this week’s Penn State-Iowa game from FanDuel as of Monday afternoon.

Here are the updated odds for this week’s game from FanDuel.

• Penn State -14.5 (-110)
• Iowa +14.5 (-110)
• Penn State money line: -710
• Iowa money line: +490
• Total: 41.5

Penn State has been a pretty solid pick at the start of this season. Through the first three games of the season, Penn State is 3-0 straight-up and 3-0 against the spread. Penn State has covered in all three games as a double-digit favorite. ?So you may be tempted to strongly consider Penn State as a double-digit favor again this week.

Penn State went over the point total in the first two weeks but failed to see its game go over the point total against Illinois.

This is the first time this week Iowa is labeled the underdog. The Hawkeyes have been a favorite in each of their first three games of the season until now, and Iowa has gone 3-0 straight-up but 2-1 against the spread. That includes a win against the spread last week as a 28.5-point favorite against Western Michigan.

Two of Iowa’s games have gone under the point total, while last week had the Hawkeyes going over, nearly all by itself.

Iowa could be missing some key players on offense this weekend. The biggest loss could be tight end Luke Lachey, who reportedly could be done for the year after experiencing a serious leg injury last weekend against Western Michigan. Lachey was Iowa’s second-leading receiver in 2023 with 398 yards and four touchdowns. He is Iowa’s leading receiver through the first three weeks with 131 yards on 10 receptions.

The week for Iowa also starts with running backs Kaleb Johnson and Jaziun Patterson not appearing on the team’s updated depth chart. Johnson was Iowa’s leading rusher in 2023 with 779 yards and 6 touchdowns. Patterson rushed for 47 yards as a freshman last season. Patterson is Iowa’s second-leading rusher this season with 104 yards and a touchdown, and Johnson has rushed for 91 yards on a team-high 34 carries.

Penn State overcame some out-of-sync offense to pick up its first road win of the season. Penn State played its Big Ten opener at Illinois and forced five turnovers in a 30-13 victory against the Illini. Drew Allar passed for 208 yards and did not turn the football over in his first road start of his young college football career. The defense gave up some yards on some good offensive drives by the Illinois offense, but the defense picked off four passes and recovered a fumble to prevent Illinois from being a viable threat.

Iowa won in a rout of Western Michigan to improve to 3-0 to start the season. The Hawkeyes put up 41 points in its most recent win and the defense has given up no more than 14 points in each of its first three games. But Iowa’s win did come at a cost. Tight end Luke Lachey left the game with what has been described as a serious leg injury. He was not listed on the depth chart for this week’s matchup.

• Date: Saturday, Sep. 23, 2023
• Time: 7:30 p.m. EDT
• TV Channel: CBS and Paramount+
• Live Stream:fuboTV (try it free)