2008 Penn State Betting Odds and Schedule

You just can’t keep a good man down and old Joe Paterno is the reason for that cliché. The 81-year-old Paterno enters his 43rd season as head coach for the 2008 Penn State Nittany Lions and looks to build upon a winning season of 9-4 with 16 returning starters. Penn State ended the season with a 24-17 win in the Alamo Bowl against Texas A&M and barely covered the college football betting odds of 5.5 points but a win is a win.

Paterno wants another bowl game for Penn State in 2008, we shall see if he can do it without corner Justin King and linebacker Dan Connor who entered the NFL draft and senior linebacker Sean Lee who is out for the season with an ACL injury. In college football matchups, Penn State went 6-7 against the spread in college football betting odds and 6-7 in over/unders. The Nittany Lions averaged 211.6 passing yards and 187.4 rushing yards per game while allowing opponents 218.7 passing and only 87.9 rushing yards per game.

College football betting odds to win the 2008-2009 BCS National Championship at online sportsbooks have Penn State +5000 and +600 to win the Big 10. Vegas odds to win the 2009 BCS National Game have Penn State at 50/1. College football odds for 2008-2009 regular season wins on Penn State at BetUS sportsbook have the Nittany Lions at 8.5, -130 over and -110 under.

2008 Penn State Offense

With senior Anthony Morelli gone at quarterback, it looks like senior Daryll Clark will get the start unless Paterno chooses to go with his two-quarterback system. Then Clark will share the duties with sophomore Pat Devlin. Evan Royster has been the main guy at tailback for Penn State but don’t be surprised to see freshman Stephfon Green getting some serious action this year. Paterno wants to get Green into the system and expects a lot from the young player. "I think he can handle 20, 25 (carries)," Paterno said. "He's a little bigger kid than you think.

He's not tall, but I think he came into camp about 190, 192 pounds. He's a good, solid kid. He's in great shape." The good news for Penn State college football betting fans is that the best receiver tandem in school history is back with seniors Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood. The offensive line will be stacked this year with senior center A.Q Shipley and senior left guard Rich Ohrnberger who will both be playing in their 3rd straight season as starters.

2008 Penn State Defense

The Nittany Lions linebacker crew has always displayed some of the best players in the country. Unfortunately for the 2008 Penn State college football betting season, the best player will be on the bench. Senior linebacker Sean Lee when he tore his ACL during Nittany Lion spring workouts. Redshirt junior Josh Hull looks to fill the middle linebacker spot until freshman Chris Colasanti is ready to enter the system. At the outside linebacker position, sophomore Bani Gdadyu returns with his blistering speed and might end up being the best player for the Lions on this side of the ball.

The Penn State defensive line will only return 3 starters for last years squad that only allowed 87.9 rushing yards per game which will make things difficult in the secondary. The Penn State secondary was burnt down the field too many times last season and also only returns 3 starters. Defensive coordinator Tom Bradley is expecting big plays and big leadership from senior safety Anthony Scirrotto.

2008 Penn State Prediction

You will hear media discuss the fact if old Joe can still get Penn State into another college football betting bowl game at the end of this season but that’s just talk. Peterno stand for football and he could put a team on the field better than what he had last season. The Nittany Lions have tough game at Wisconsin and Ohio State but should have no problem with the rest of their schedule and finish the season around 5-3 in the Big 10.

2008 Penn State Schedule