Penn State vs. Utah odds: Early point spread released for Rose Bowl

College football bowl season is right around the corner, and on Sunday the schedule was set as the entire slate of December and January’s bowl matchups was announced. There are plenty of exciting, non-conference games that will be featured and put a bow on the college football season including The Granddaddy of Them All, the Rose Bowl, which will feature No. 8 ranked Utah and No. 11 Penn State.

The Rose Bowl is not until January 2, but that didn’t stop FanDuel from setting the point spread for the matchup in favor of the Nittany Lions, with the line being set at Penn State -1.5.

Penn State is one of the nation’s top two-loss teams, suffering losses to just Michigan and Ohio State who both rank in the top four of the final College Football Playoff polls and will be featured in the College Football Playoff semifinals with a chance to play for the National Championship.

This will be Penn State head coach James Franklin’s eighth bowl appearance at the helm for the Nittany Lions, only missing bowl eligibility one time during his tenure in the 2020 season. His offense features experience and youth led by redshirt senior quarterback Sean Clifford, who’s name is written all over the Nittany Lions’ school record books, and freshman phenom running back Nick Singleton, who’s rushed for 941 yards and 10 touchdowns in his debut season.

Penn State also has one of the country’s top defenses, ranking in the top ten nationally, holding opponents to just 18 points per game this season. They’ll definitely need that unit to come up big for them in the Rose Bowl, as they take on a Utah team whose high-powered offense just led them to their second straight Pac-12 Championship victory.

Utah is fresh off of a 47-24 conference title win over USC, their seventh game of the season scoring 40 or more points. They have one of the nation’s top offensive attacks across the entire FBS, and are no stranger to the Rose Bowl, as they competed in last year’s edition of the Granddaddy of Them All in an instant classic versus Ohio State.

That game also had no shortage of points, as the Utes fell to the Buckeyes 48-45 in a game highlighted by Buckeyes receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba’s record-shattering 15 reception, 347-yard, three-touchdown performance. Utah will be seeking Rose Bowl redemption and a win this time around, as they’ll face Penn State in Pasadena, California on January 2.