Akron at Penn State

Things are looking great for Penn State, which has fully recovered from its scandal-plagued years and coach James Frankin was rewarded with an extended long-term contract. The Nittany Lions won their last nine conference games (8-0-1 ATS), including the Big 10 Championship game against Wisconsin and arguably could have been selected as one of the playoff teams, but instead settled for the Rose Bowl where they lost a thriller against USC. Quarterback Trace McSorley (224-387-8) and running back Saquon Barkley (106.9 rushing yards per game) are among nine returning starters on offense and seven starters are back on the defensive side. The secondary is especially strong including safety Marcus Allen, who led the team with 110 tackles.   Akron comes off a 5-7 season and lost its last four games by a combined score of 136-68 and did not cover the number in any of them and finished 4-7 ATS for the season. Senior quarterback Thomas Woodson started eight games last season and went 146-of-242 for 2,079 yards and 18 touchdowns while suffering some injuries. The Zips were ranked #11 in the Mid-American Conference on defense and apparently it didn't improve as the season wore on based on the last four games. Lay the points with Penn State.