The UMass Minutemen will travel to University Park, Pennsylvania to face off against the 6^th ranked Penn State Nittany Lions at Beaver Stadium on Saturday afternoon at 3:30 PM which will air on the Big Ten Network.

The UMass Minutemen enter this game with a record of 1-6 following a 24-41 loss at home against the Toledo Rockets while covering the 19-point spread as a home underdog in week 6 of the college football season. UMass scored 24 points while compiling a total of 457 yards offensively which included 272 passing yards and 185 rushing yards while allowing 41 points and 514 total yards defensively which included 139 passing yards and 375 rushing yards. Taisun Phommachanh led the team in passing, completing 20 of 31 attempts for 272 yards with two touchdowns and an interception while rushing for six yards. Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams led the team in rushing with 20 carries for 157 yards and a touchdown while adding a reception for nine yards. Anthony Simpson led the team in receiving, catching seven of eight targets for 140 yards and a touchdown.

Penn State enters this game ranked 6^th in the AP Poll and 5^th in the Coaches Poll with a record of 5-0 following a 41-13 win on the road against the Northwestern Wildcats while covering the 27-point spread as a road favorite in week 5 of the college football season. The Nittany Lions scored 41 points while compiling a total of 353 yards offensively which included 219 passing yards and 134 rushing yards while allowing 13 points and 175 total yards defensively which included 130 passing yards and 45 rushing yards. Drew Allar led the team in passing, completing 18 of 33 attempts for 189 yards and a touchdown while rushing for four yards and a touchdown. Nicholas Singleton led the team in rushing with 21 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown while adding six receptions for 39 yards and a touchdown. KeAndre Lambert-Smith led the team in receiving, catching four of eight targets for 86 yards.

BookMaker has the Penn State Nittany Lions listed as 41.5-point favorites at home against the UMass Minutemen on Saturday afternoon in week 7 of the college football season. These programs have only played each other one other time which occurred in 2014 and resulted in a 48-7 win for the Penn State Nittany Lions. UMass is 3-4 ATS overall, 2-1 ATS on the road, and 3-2 ATS as an underdog this season while the Penn State Nittany Lions are 5-0 ATS overall, 3-0 ATS at home, and 5-0 ATS as a favorite on the year.

Penn State is the superior team in this matchup as far as talent goes and I don’t expect UMass to match up well in any facet of the game. I look for the Nittany Lions to have an easy win on Saturday and although 41.5 points to give up is a lot, Penn State has been one of the best teams in college football this season at covering the spread going 5-0 ATS overall which is why I am buying the .5 point and taking the Penn State Nittany Lions -41 at home against the UMass Minutemen.