Week 3: Auburn vs Penn State 9/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Auburn Tigers and Penn State Nittany Lions clash Saturday in a week 3 college football showdown from Jordan-Hare Stadium.

The Penn State Nittany Lions will look to build on their 2-0 start after a 46-10 rout of Ohio last time out. Sean Clifford has thrown for 495 yards, 5 touchdowns and an interception with a 60.9% completion percentage while Nicholas Singleton has a team-high 210 rushing yards this season. Mitchell Tinsley has a team-high 10 catches and 111 receiving yards with 2 touchdowns while Brenton Strange and Parker Washington have combined for 179 receiving yards as well. On defense,.Curtis Jacobs has a team-high 11 total tackles while Johnny Dixon has a pair of sacks as well this season.

The Auburn Tigers will hope to build on their own 2-0 start after taking out San Jose State 24-16 last time out. T.J. Finley has thrown for 279 yards, a touchdown and 3 interceptions on 64.7% passing while Robby Ashford has 101 passing yards on 50% passing. Tarik Bigsby has a team-high 198 rushing yards with 3 scores and Jarquez Hunter has a team-high 4 TDs on the ground while the aforementioned Ashford has 129 rushing yards this season. Ja’Varrius Johnson has a team-high 158 receiving yards as well this season. On defense, Cam Riley has a team-high 20 total tackles including 13 solo tackles while Auburn’s defense has 4 sacks as well this season.

Penn State is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games in September and 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against the SEC while the over is 11-4 in their last 15 non-conference games. Auburn is 1-6 ATS in their last 7 games against the Big Ten and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 games overall.

I’m fully aware of what Penn State’s been able to accomplish offensively this season as they’ve poured onto Ohio after a nice win over Purdue. However, I think this is a bit much, having the Nittany Lions lay this many points, or even laying points at all against an SEC team on the road. Auburn hasn’t been the most convincing ATS, but they were heavy favorites in both of those games and in an underdog role, they’re more than capable of not only covering, but beating Penn State outright here. I’ll take Auburn and the points here.