What is the Penn State-USC point spread? The number is not as big as you might expect: Newsstand
Penn State heads to USC for a Big Ten showdown on Saturday. Monday’s newsstand looks at the point spread and total, headlines of the day, and other topics of note. Let’s dive in.
Penn State tweets of the day
FanDuel is first to market with betting information for the Lions-Trojans clash at the LA Memorial Coliseum. Back on Friday, it listed Penn State as a 3.5-point favorite and listed the total at 53.5 points. After head coach James Franklin’s team beat UCLA 27-11 while head coach Lincoln Riley’s side was upset at Minnesota 24-17, the numbers were re-posted on Sunday morning. Saturday’s road team is opened as a 3.5-point favorite, which calls for, roughly, a 28-24 Nittany Lions triumph. The number has since moved to 4.5.
Will that number go up, considering it was 6.5 points on the Games of the Year lines back in May? We’ll see. This weekend’s home team has consistency issues. PSU does, to some degree, too, and there are injury questions. As for the total, it is down to 48.5.
CBS will televise the contest at 3:30 p.m. ET. Penn State will head out west on Thursday, practice in Los Angeles on Friday, and then get ready for game day. Franklin first speaks with reporters later today to kick off a week of media availabilities before game day. He will undoubtedly be asked to address the injury situation, but he’ll likely have few answers. From there, how the team will travel will be a hot talking point. So, too, will be the defense’s tremendous third quarter and second half stats and also the offense’s similarly ugly numbers in the first quarter of games so far in 2024.
Top 10
- 1
A piece of history
Recovered Vanderbilt goalposts are up for sale
- 2
CFP predictions
Andy Staples predicts 12-team CFP field
- 3Hot
Arkansas fined $250k
Hogs upset of Vols proves costly
- 4
Lincoln Riley gets testy
USC head coach was not a fan of the question
- 5New
Tuscaloosa Turmoil
Damien Harris rips Moore, DeBoer
Headlines of the day
Penn State mailbag: Troubling signs in the Lions’ win over UCLA; Is Drew Allar capable of more?: Flounders, PennLive
Penn State slow starts a concern, Lions must now show they can win when it matters, and more of what they’re saying: Pickel, BWI
Behind Penn State Lineman Vega Ioane’s Viral Moment Against UCLA: Wogenrich, SI
Penn State Sunday rewind: On the Lions’ injury issues, a sneaky stat that matters, and more: Pickel, BWI
No Nick, New Kicker, Clifford’s Catches and More. What Was Learned in Penn State’s Win Against UCLA?: Engle, Statecollege.com
Penn State hosts four potential flip targets in the 2025 class for Saturday’s win over UCLA: Snyder, BWI
Penn State football struggles, survives vs UCLA: Does offense deserve a passing grade?: Bodani, YDR
Quote of the day
“Really cool to see Liam Clifford with over 100 yards today. So now you watch on tape. Liam showing up, Julian showing up, the tight end showing up, the running back. So, it makes it difficult when they’re not sure who they can or will take away in the game, but great to see Liam have his first 100-yard game. Penn State is 5-0 for the fourth straight year, we’re the only school in the country to start 5-0 in each of the last four years. That’s the first time that that’s happened in school history. So, that’s something we take a lot of pride in, and then our defense has held Big Ten opponents under 100 yards rushing in four straight games and 15 of the last 16 games. So that was that was cool.”
–PSU coach James Franklin after his team’s win over UCLA.
