USC vs Penn State Prediction & Picks: College Football Week 6

State College gets a whiteout and a night kickoff for this one, Saturday, October 10 at 4:30 PM PT / 7:30 PM ET in State College, PA, and the betting line is barely a line at all: Penn State was a 1.5-point favorite with a total of 54.5 when the guys taped on October 6. Two of the guys went with the home team and one went the other way, and you can hear the whole argument on the College Football Picks Week 6 episode.

USC vs Penn State Odds

Penn State was a 1.5-point favorite over USC with a total of 54.5 when the guys taped on October 6, and the guys quoted Penn State at minus 114 on the money line.

Our Picks

Ryan Kramer (@KramerCentric): USC +1.5
Sean Green (@SeanTGreen): Penn State -1.5
Colby Dant (@thecolbyd): Penn State -1.5

Neither team arrives looking good. Penn State just got thumped by Northwestern, and Colby wondered when Penn State last gave up more than 400 yards on the ground, while USC didn’t look great against Washington either. Colby’s worry about USC is geography: USC has had issues going east, and Rutgers nearly beat them this year. He said he’d hoped to get dog value on Matt Campbell and ended up on the favorite instead.

The home-side argument kept it practical. Penn State has looked bad, but it gets an extra day to prepare, it isn’t making a trip across the country, and it will have the crowd. Penn State also struggled with Northwestern’s physical power running, and USC hasn’t been physical enough either. Colby landed on Penn State as what he called a “mileage play,” while admitting he doesn’t love it and wondering if Lincoln Riley would be smart enough to run the ball.

The USC case came last and loudest. The numbers suggest Penn State is bad, both defenses have problems, and at least USC has had some offensive success and a quarterback. Then came the verdict on Campbell: a horrible hire by Penn State. Michigan waiting on deck for Penn State got a mention, and so did a question of whether this whiteout was planned before the season or is a Hail Mary from the administration to help Campbell.

Hear the full breakdown on the College Football Picks Week 6 episode, or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Watch every game on YouTube, and download the SGPN app at sg.pn/links. See all our College Football Picks.