Penn State Nittany Lions at Temple Owls Free Pick and Point Spread. Saturday, September 5th will see the Penn State Nittany Lions arrive at Lincoln Financial Field to take on the Temple Owls in their week one NCAAF 2015 season opener. Kick off for the game is set for 15:30 ET and Penn State are the current favourites to win, according to odds of -105 with -7 starting points at 5Dimes. Total lines on the odds board stand at 39½.
Betting Odds
Point Spread: Nittany Lions -7/Owls +7
Total Line: 39.5
Penn State claimed a 30-13 victory over the Temple Owls last season, running for 254 yards and claiming two touchdowns, thanks to Akeel Lynch. The Lions will be looking to bring that same style that propelled them through their 2014 season match up. Now that coach, James Franklin’s coaching style has been established within the team, maintaining a consistent play will prove to be the key to Penn State’s success in 2015.
Last season’s offensive tactics left a lot to be desired, with the Lions ranking 13th in the Big Ten in terms of total offence. An average of 335 yards a game were recorded, largely due to the so-called growing pains of quarterback, Christian Hackenberg. He completed only 276 of the 497 attempted passes. Meanwhile, a total of 451 carries were recorded, with 1325 rushing yards and 3034 receiving yards.
The Temple Owls ranked last in the American Athletic Conference last year due to the team’s broken running game. Since that time, the team has recruited T.J. Simmons, a four-star running back, as well as Jager Gardner, one of the best ranked running backs in North Carolina high school history. Junior tailback Jahad Thomas, has since been moved to the top of the depth chart. Last season saw Thomas achieve the best single-game rushing effort, with 157 yards in a 35-24 win over Tulsa. Temple are now looking to play Thomas all out in order to claim the first victory of the NCAAF 2015 season.
Due to last year’s dismal strategies employed by Temple’s coaches, the Owls only completed 214 of the 403 passes attempted. A total of 369 carries for 1293 rushing yards were recorded, while 11 touchdowns were achieved in the same category. The Owls received 214 over 2408 yards, with 13 touchdowns.
Penn State at Temple Betting Trends
Penn State is 2-4 against the spread in their last 6 games.
The Nittany Lions are 5-2 straight up in their last 7 games on the road.
The game total has gone under in 4 of Penn’s states last 5 road games.
The Owls are 2-5 straight up in their last 7 games overall.
Temple is 4-11 straight up in their last 15 home games.
Injury Report
There are no injuries to report for this first game of the season.
Consensus Picks ATS
Penn State: 72%
Temple: 28%
Free College Football Pick
The Temple Owls proved that they could play defense last season allowing a measly 17.5 points per game. They return 10 starters to their defense and should pick up where they left off last season. The Penn State Nittany Lions defense allowed 17.7 points per season just .2 points per game more than the Owls facing tougher competition. They are going to be stout up front in their top seven on defense , but the rest of the team is very experienced especially on offense. It would be a surprise to see much put on the board against the stingy defense of the home squad. The total is low, but holds lots of betting value based on the matchup.
Take the UNDER 40 @ BETONLINE.AG
(WIN)
