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Football beat writers predict MSU football will earn its 10th win against Penn State Saturday

November 29, 2014
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MSU football will look for its 10th win of the season against Penn State Saturday, and football beat writers Geoff Preston and Robert Bondy believe the Spartans will have no problem getting the victory.

Preston’s Picks

MSU ends their regular season with a game that looked like a trap game at the beginning of the season, when a Big Ten championship looked more like a probability than a possibility.

Even with that game out of the way, this is still a game that could give MSU some problems. Penn State comes in at 6-5, but has given the toughest teams on their schedule their toughest test, especially when they come to Happy Valley. Remember the Ohio State game?

The weather in State College won’t be conducive to high powered offenses, but that hasn’t stopped MSU in the past from putting up a lot of points. PSU comes in giving up the fourth fewest points in the nation, so that should also slow down MSU, but I don’t see PSU scoring enough to keep up with the Spartans, and you know Tony Lippett will be good for a late touchdown.

I understand that MSU could look ahead of PSU, but it seems hard when they don’t know where or who they will be playing next. One theme of this MSU team has not been overlooking competition that would seem inferior. I think MSU marches into Happy Valley and takes care of business. MSU-30 PSU-10

Bondy’s Bets

At the beginning of the season, many Spartan fans would have thought this game would be clinching a spot in the Big Ten Championship Game. That won’t happen on Saturday, but the same result of a Spartan victory will occur.

MSU is rolling entering this week’s matchup against PSU, winning the last two games by a margin of 32 points per game. A lot of the success in the last two games can be pointed to a potent Spartan defensive attack, and that’s bad news for a PSU offense that can’t keep teams out of the backfield.

The Spartan defense is going to have a field day on a weak PSU offensive line and will record at least four sacks of sophomore quarterback Christian Hackenberg. That pressure will also force the struggling sophomore to force a couple of passes that result in Spartan turnovers.

The one bright spot for Nittany Lions is its front seven on the defense and it’ll surely create fits for MSU’s running game. Because of a solid defensive effort from PSU, this one won’t get out of hand till late. In the end MSU’s defense is too much for a reeling Nittany Lions’ squad and the Spartans improve to 10-2 on the season. MSU-27 PSU-10

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