The Rutgers Scarlet Knights will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania to face the 12^th-ranked Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium with the game scheduled to kick off at 12:00 PM ET on Saturday afternoon and will air on Fox Sports 1 in week 12 of the college football season.

Rutgers is one of the most improved teams in the Big Ten Conference this season after missing a bowl game in the previous season with a record of 4-8 the Scarlet Knights will be in a bowl game this season as they enter this game with a record of 6-4 which includes a record of 3-4 in the Big Ten Conference. However,  following their win against the Indiana Hoosiers on the road, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have lost their last two games and have been outscored 16-57 in those matchups which includes a 0-22 shutout loss on the road against the Iowa Hawkeyes. The defense has struggled as well over their last two matchups as they allowed 28.5 points per game during the current losing streak and things won’t be any easier for their offense this week when they face one of the top defenses in college football when they travel to face the Penn State Nittany Lions.

The Penn State Nittany Lions will not win the Big Ten East division this season as they have lost to the Ohio State Buckeyes by a score of 12-20 and lost to the Michigan Wolverines last week at home by a score of 15-24. James Franklin has made a change at Offensive Coordinator following last week’s dismal performance on offense as he fired Mike Yurcich and replaced him with two Co-Offensive Coordinators in Ja’Juan Seider and Ty Howle. The two losses for the Nittany Lions this season were a result of the productivity on offense as they averaged 13.5 points per game in those matchups while averaging 43.75 points per game in their eight wins. The offense has still been above-average this season as they enter this game averaging 37.7 points per game which ranks 15^th in college football, however, they will be facing another stingy defense this week when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights who are only allowing an average of 18.3 points per game.

BookMaker has the Penn State Nittany Lions listed as 20.5-point favorites at home against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday afternoon in week 12 of the college football season. Penn State has won all nine games all-time in the series while winning by an average margin of 24.34 points per game all-time and 29.67 points per game over the last three meetings. The Nittany Lions are 5-4 ATS all-time and 3-0 ATS in the last three matchups. The Rutgers Scarlet Knights are 6-3-1 ATS overall, 2-1-1 ATS on the road, 1-2-1 ATS as an underdog, and 3-3-1 ATS in conference games this season while the Penn State Nittany Lions are 7-3 ATS overall, 4-2 ATS at home, 7-1 ATS as a favorite, and 4-3 ATS in conference games on the year.

Penn State has not lost against Rutgers as they are 9-0 all-time in the series and have been the better team at covering the spread in the series, going 5-4 ATS all-time and 3-0 ATS in the last three meetings. The Nittany Lions have the best record in the Big Ten at covering the spread with a record of 7-3 ATS overall and are 7-1 ATS as a favorite while the Scarlet Knights are 1-2-1 ATS as an underdog which is why I am buying the .5 point and laying the points with the Penn State Nittany Lions when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in this Big Ten matchup.