Delaware vs Penn State Odds
| Delaware Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+41.5 -110 | 54 -110o / -110u | +N/A |
| Penn State Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-41.5 -110 | 54 -110o / -110u | +N/A |
Love James Franklin or hate James Franklin, it probably depends on what your betting slip looked like last Saturday.
He chose to keep the pedal down on the Penn State offense with seconds remaining in the game up 31-15 as Beau Pribula ran in for a touchdown to give the Nittany Lions a 38-15 win and cover the spread as 21-point favorites over the West Virginia Mountaineers. It was a perfect recipe for Scott Van Pelt's Bad Beats.
Sportsmanship aside, Penn State takes a step down in competition against FCS-level Delaware in its Week-2 matchup at Beaver Stadium.
Franklin preaches a 1-0 mentality, but with Big Ten play on deck for the Nittany Lions at Illinois, just how long will the starters play in a probable blowout against the Blue Hens, and will it lead to a backdoor cover for this Delaware side?
Find a betting pick, preview and prediction for Delaware vs. Penn State below.
Delaware Blue Hens
It’s time for the Delaware athletic department to make some money and travel to Beaver Stadium to get blown out by Power Five competition. Last season, the Fightin' Blue Hens finished 8-5 with a second-round exit in the FCS playoffs in head coach Ryan Carty’s first season.
Delaware opened up the 2023 season with a 37-13 win at Stony Brook, which featured Ryan O’Connor's first career start at quarterback. O’Connor completed 24 of 38 passes for 346 yards and a touchdown before being relieved by Zach Marker. While the first-time starter threw for plenty of yards, he and Marker combined for three interceptions.
The receiving duo of Chandler Harvin and Kym Wimberly is Delaware’s most potent offensive weapon.
Harvin caught 39 passes for 615 yards in 2022 and opened this year’s campaign with a five-catch, 100-yard performance. Wimberly is a Harvard transfer where he was second-team All-Ivy, and he caught five passes for 81 yards against Stony Brook.
The Blue Hens secondary limited Stony Brook to 14-of-41 passing for only 163 yards, but the Seawolves found success on the ground. Stony Brook racked up 164 yards on 30 carries — a foreboding sign for a defense that's preparing to face one of the best running back tandems in the country.
Penn State Nittany Lions
The Drew Allar era is officially underway for Penn State, and you couldn’t have asked for a much better performance in his season debut. The highly-touted prospect completed 21-of-29 passes for 325 yards and three touchdowns in Penn State’s 23-point win over West Virginia.
Allar shouldn’t have to throw that much in Week 2, with the workload likely shifting to Penn State’s running backs Nick Singleton and Kaytron Allen.
The duo combined for only 23 carries and 121 yards against the Mountaineers, but expect their total carries to tick closer to 30 this week with at least one of the backs breaking the 100-yard mark against an FCS-level front seven.
Penn State's backups should see plenty of action in the second half, as dual-threat quarterback Pribula and Jaxon Smolik relieve Allar.
Penn State should still throw the ball a good bit in the second half as it looks for a second and third receiver to emerge behind KeAndre Lambert-Smith.
Defensively, there's room for the Nittany Lions to improve. Their weakest spot — the defensive tackles — won’t be tested too much against a Delaware offense that favors the pass, but expect cornerbacks Kalen King and Johnny Dixon to jump some passes after failing to generate a turnover in Week 1.
The Blue Hens threw three interceptions against the Stony Brook secondary and will push the ball downfield even more as they look to chip away at Penn State's lead.
Additionally, Delaware's O'Connor was sacked four times last week, and Penn State's Chop Robinson and Abdul Carter will be chomping at the bit to get in the backfield after a relatively quiet Week 1.
Delaware vs Penn State
Betting Pick & Prediction
This game won’t be close, but how long will Franklin keep his foot on the gas? If Week 1 demonstrated anything, it’s that Franklin doesn’t believe in slowing things down and lining up in victory formation.
The Blue Hens struggled to avoid mistakes in their win over Stony Brook and are going from playing in front of 11,000 fans in Week 1 to 107,000 in Week 2. Their mistakes are only going to increase.
Expect the Penn State offense to hold nothing back, regardless of who’s in at quarterback. The defense will also do its part to hold Delaware to no more than one score.
