The Northwestern Wildcats take on the Penn State Nittany Lions. Check out our college football odds series for our Northwestern Penn State prediction and pick.

This season started well for the Northwestern Wildcats. They went to Ireland and beat the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Getting a conference win banked and secured in August? The Wildcats had to be confident about their future after digging out that victory.

Then came the rest of the season. The Wildcats have been awful, losing three straight home games to Duke, Southern Illinois, and Miami of Ohio. Yikes. The wheels have come off for the NU offense, which made bigger plays against Nebraska than against any of the Wildcats' three most recent opponents. They managed only two scoring drives against Miami, a Mid-American Conference team. They couldn't physically outplay (let alone dominate) Southern Illinois in the trenches. They have been unable to make adjustments, and beyond that, they have actually gotten worse, not better, each week. Pat Fitzgerald is a superb defensive coach, but he often presides over an offense which gets caught shorthanded in terms of overall resources and quarterback play. NU isn't getting much of anything from its offense right now. A stout and sturdy Penn State defense is not a good matchup or situation for a struggling team which has not yet played a true road game this season. (Ireland was a neutral-site location, followed by three home games.)

Penn State was not particularly sharp against Central Michigan, but the point of playing Central Michigan in Week 4 was to give the Nittany Lions a breather after their game against Auburn in Week 3. Yes, Auburn isn't that good, but the game was still emotional and required a long commute. The Central Michigan game gave PSU time and space to downshift. Now that Penn State is back in Big Ten play (the team beat Purdue in Week 1), we should see a more vigorous effort from the Nittany Lions. They need a no-drama win so that they can manage their resources heading into the tougher part of their schedule, which will come on the other side of this game versus Northwestern.

Here are the Northwestern-Penn State NCAA Football Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

College Football Odds: Northwestern-Penn State Odds

Northwestern Wildcats: +24.5 (-110)

Penn State Nittany Lions: -24.5 (-110)

Over: 51.5 (-110)

Under: 51.5 (-110)

Why Northwestern Could Cover the Spread

The Wildcats are a bad team, but they are getting a lot of points here, and Penn State does not have a prolific offense. One can easily envision a scenario in which Penn State's plodding, methodical offense doesn't play particularly well against Northwestern's defense. Penn State might score 23 points, in which case it won't cover the spread. Even if Penn State scores just 31 points, Northwestern can cover if it scores one touchdown. If you think Penn State will score in the 40s, you can bet on Penn State to cover. If you think Penn State won't score more than 31, you should probably take Northwestern to cover.

Why Penn State Could Cover the Spread

If the Northwestern offense can't score in big numbers against Southern Illinois and Miami of Ohio, it won't score very much against Penn State. If PSU can score 38 or more, it will cover.

Final Northwestern-Penn State Prediction & Pick

Penn State will score fewer than 34 points. That probably means Northwestern can score 10 points and cover.

Final Northwestern-Penn State Prediction & Pick: Northwestern +24.5