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One of the more intriguing matchups of college football bowl season arrives on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta. The No. 10 Penn State Nittany Lions take on the No. 11 Ole Miss Rebels in the 2023 Peach Bowl at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Both programs are 10-2 this season. Penn State’s losses came to Ohio State and Michigan, and the Nittany Lions are comfortable in this setting, making their fifth New Year’s Six bowl appearance in the last ten years. Ole Miss is looking for its first 11-win season in program history, and the Rebels are 11-4 in the last 15 bowl games.
SportsLine consensus lists the Nittany Lions as 5-point favorites for this noon ET kickoff. The total number of points Vegas thinks will be scored, or the over/under, is 50.5 in the Ole Miss vs. Penn State odds. Before locking in any Penn State vs. Ole Miss picks or Peach Bowl predictions, make sure you check out the analysis from SportsLine and CBS Sports expert Barrett Sallee, given his mastery of picks in games involving the Rebels.
A nationally known CBS Sports college football writer, Sallee shares his top plays each week with SportsLine subscribers. Sallee hosts shows on SiriusXM College and appears regularly on CBS Sports HQ. He is a regular on local, regional and national radio programs, including The Paul Finebaum Show on ESPN Radio and the SEC Network.
What’s more, he has demonstrated a particularly sharp eye for the Rebels. In fact, Sallee has gone 15-4 (+1060) on his last 19 college football picks in games involving Ole Miss. Anyone who has followed him is way up.
Now, Sallee has set his sights on Ole Miss vs. Penn State. You can head to SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several college football odds and trends for Penn State vs. Ole Miss:
- Ole Miss vs. Penn State spread: PSU -5
- Ole Miss vs. Penn State over/under: 50.5 points
- Ole Miss vs. Penn State money line: PSU -201, MISS +166
- OM: The Rebels are 6-4-2 against the spread this season
- PSU: The Nittany Lions are 9-3 against the spread this season
- Ole Miss vs. Penn State picks: See picks at SportsLine
- Ole Miss vs. Penn State live stream: fubo (try for free)
Why Ole Miss can cover
Ole Miss features a potent offense under the direction of head coach Lane Kiffin. The Rebels have committed only seven turnovers this season, ranking in the top three among FBS programs, and Ole Miss is also highly explosive. The Rebels are averaging 455.6 total yards per game this season while ranking in the top four of the SEC in both passing yards (276.6 per game) and rushing yards (179.0 per game). That balance leads Ole Miss to almost 35 points per game this season, with very strong underlying metrics.
The Rebels are averaging well over nine yards per pass attempt with 23 passing touchdowns and only six interceptions this season. On the ground, Ole Miss has 28 rushing touchdowns, and Quinshon Judkins is a dynamic force. Judkins is the only player in program history with 15 or more rushing touchdowns in a season, doing it in back-to-back years, and he has led the SEC in rushing touchdowns in two straight seasons. Judkins produced 1,052 rushing yards this season, and he is a key cog for the Rebels. See which team to pick here.
Why Penn State can cover
Penn State’s defense is excellent, and the Nittany Lions also have other advantages in this matchup. James Franklin’s team has the best turnover differential (+18) in FBS this season, committing only six turnovers and throwing only one interception on offense. Quarterback Drew Allar has the best ratio of touchdown passes (23) to interceptions (one) in the country, and he threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns while averaging more than 11 yards per attempt in the season finale against Michigan State.
On the other side, Penn State leads the country in total yards allowed (223.3 per game), yards allowed per play (3.9), and sacks (48) this season. The Nittany Lions are also in the top three of the nation in points allowed (11.4 per game), passing yards allowed (153.6 per game), rushing yards allowed (69.7 per game), yards allowed per rush attempt (2.2), and first downs allowed (13.5 per game). Penn State has nearly twice as many interceptions (12) as passing touchdowns allowed (seven), and opponents struggle against the Nittany Lions on third down, moving the chains only 30% of the time. See which team to pick here.
How to make Penn State vs. Ole Miss picks
Sallee has analyzed this matchup and while we can tell you he’s leaning Over on the point total, he has also discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. He’s sharing what it is, and which side to back, only at SportsLine.
Who wins Ole Miss vs. Penn State, and which critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see which side of the Penn State vs. Ole Miss spread to jump on, all from the expert on a 15-4 run on picks in games involving the Rebels, and find out.
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