Picking the point spread: Will Penn State win, cover, in opener at Purdue?
Penn State football has learned some of its point spreads ahead of the 2022 season. This week, Blue-White Illustrated is offering an early pick for each of the games already lined by FanDuel.
We’re starting with the opener. The Lions travel to West Layfayette, Ind., on Thursday, Sept. 1 to take on the Purdue Boilermakers. A kickoff time has not yet been set, but the game is expected to be played in primetime.
FanDuel has installed Penn State as a three-point road favorite (-3) for the Big Ten East-West crossover clash. Will the Lions cover?
An early read on Purdue
Jeff Brohm enters his sixth season at the helm of the Boilermakers program this fall. He has never beaten Penn State while leading the program. The two sides last met in 2019, when the Lions scored a 35-7 home victory. The last time Penn State was in West Layfayette, it won 62-24 back in 2016.
The Boilermakers return 14 starters from last season’s 9-4 team. Seven are on offense and seven are defenders. The team lost star receiver David Bell to the NFL and his likely replacement, Milton Wright, is no longer with the team after being ruled academically ineligible. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell is back, however, and Purdue welcomed numerous players from the transfer portal. But, leading tackler Jaylen Alexander is gone, as well.
The Boilermakers offense is led by Brian Brohm, while Ron English and Mark Hagen are the co-defensive coordinators. Karl Maslowski, then, is the new special teams coordinator. He was hired this offseason.
Like Penn State, Purdue had a modified spring game pitting the offense versus the defense. The latter won, 45-42. And, one national analyst has picked a breakout candidate for the Big Ten West side.
“Tyrone Tracy Jr. is the new Rondale Moore: Rondale Moore was one of Jeff Brohm’s biggest recruiting wins at Purdue, and while he battled injuries during his college career, when on the field, Purdue never found a shortage of ways to get him the ball,” Tom Fornelli writes for CBS Sports.
“Iowa transfer Tyrone Tracy Jr. played a similar role in Purdue’s spring game. He was used as a receiver, got the ball on jet sweeps and lined up in the backfield on some snaps as well. Tracy looks to be a favorite of Brohm already, and a versatile weapon in the hands of an innovative playcaller can lead to a lot of fun times.”
Will Penn State cover against Purdue?
Our way too early prediction is that yes, Penn State will cover the three-point spread against Purdue. The Lions of course have many questions to answer just like their season-opening foe does. But, Penn State has won nine straight games in this series and we see no reason for that streak to end even if the opener is on again on the road and a few days earlier than originally expected.
As for a score prediction, we have it Penn State 30, Purdue 24 at this early juncture.
