West Virginia Mountaineers vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, 9/2/2023 College Football Picks, Best Bets & Odds

Game: West Virginia Mountaineers vs Penn State Nittany Lions

Date: Saturday, September 2, 2023

Location: Beaver Stadium in University Park, PA

TV: NBC

Odds/Point Spread: Nittany Lions (-17)

Total/Over-Under: 50

The West Virginia Mountaineers (5-7 last season) are hitting the road to Beaver Stadium on Saturday, September 2, 2023 where they will try to defeat the Penn State Nittany Lions (11-2 last year). Penn State opens this game as 17-point favorites from oddsmakers. The total has been set at 50.

The West Virginia Mountaineers finished the season holding a 5-7 mark. The last time they took the field, the Mountaineers played against the Oklahoma State Cowboys and earned the victory with a final of 24-19. Garrett Greene finished 8/14 with 48 yds passing. He had a quarterback rating of 71.7 and walked away from the contest with 1 interception. Jaylen Anderson was the leader on the ground for the Mountaineers with 15 attempts for 155 yds (10.3 yards per carry). The West Virginia Mountaineers ran the ball 41 different times and totaled 250 yards, earning them an average of 6.1 yds per carry. In the game, they ran 64 plays for 327 yds. West Virginia gave up 18 completions on 42 attempts for 178 yards, and a completion percentage of 42.9%. Against the rush, the Mountaineers conceded 180 yards on 42 attempts, which averages out to 4.3 yds per run allowed.

The Mountaineers racked up 4,788 total yards for the previous season. West Virginia earned 20 touchdowns through the air and 24 touchdowns via the ground. They surrendered the ball 19 times. West Virginia accounted for 280 1st downs as a team, and they were called for 77 infractions for 636 yds. As a unit they had an average of 171.5 yards in the run game, which was 52nd in Division 1. When it comes to putting points on the board, the West Virginia Mountaineers averaged 30.6 PPG.

When talking about yards via the pass, the Mountaineers conceded 3,152 yards which ranked them 96th in Division 1. During their 12 games played, they conceded 262.7 yards per contest via the pass in addition to surrendering a completion percentage of 59.3%. They allowed 412.3 yards per game which put them 98th in the country. They granted 22 touchdowns via the pass and 24 rushing touchdowns. They allowed 4.1 yards per rush and 149.6 yards on the ground per contest throughout last season. In total, they allowed 1,795 rushing yards through 12 games. The Mountaineers sat in 116th in college football concerning the opposition scoring, allowing 32.9 points per contest.

The Nittany Lions finished the season with a 11-2 mark. The last time they took the field, the Nittany Lions walked away with a victory by a final of 35-21 when they played the Utah Utes. Sean Clifford (2 TDs) ended the contest with 279 yds on 16/21 passing while his quarterback rate was 219.2. He didn't throw any picks and his average yards per attempt was 13.3. Nicholas Singleton ran the ball 7 times for 120 yards, finishing the contest with 17.1 yds per attempt for Penn State. Penn State rushed the football for 5.5 yards per carry, totaling 169 yards on 31 carries. The Nittany Lions finished with a total of 448 yds and they ran 53 plays (8.5 yards per play). The Nittany Lions pass defense allowed a completion rate of 45.0%, surrendering 207 yards on 18 for 40 passing. Penn State surrendered 43 rush attempts for 184 yards (4.3 yds per carry).

When discussing the points being put on the board, the Nittany Lions ranked 20th in the country holding an average of 35.8 points per outing. Last season, the Nittany Lions compiled 3,283 yards via the pass as well as averaging 252.5 passing yards per contest, which had them ranked 46th in D-1. The Penn State Nittany Lions had an average of 433.6 yards per outing, which ranked them 34th in D-1. The Penn State offense accrued 628 penalty yds on 69 infractions, which ranked them 93rd in D-1 in terms of making mistakes.

Penn State allowed a total of 1,446 yards rushing (111.2 yards per game) in addition to 14 touchdowns on the ground last year. They allowed 12 touchdowns through the air in addition to 212.3 yards per game, which had them ranked 46th in D-1. The Nittany Lions defense took the field for 913 plays, ranking them 96th in the country. The Nittany Lions surrendered 18.2 points per game, which had them in 10th in college football. Last year, they allowed 237 total points.

Who will win tonight's Mountaineers/Nittany Lions college football game against the spread?

Tony's Pick: Take the Nittany Lions -17

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