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Free Pick: Boston College vs. Penn State Gambling Lines & Pinstripe Bowl Preview

New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Eagles vs Nittany Lions

College Football Bowl Season sees betting action between the Boston College Eagles and the Penn State Nittany Lions. Cappers picks provides free college football handicapping tips all season long.

Two of the top defenses in the country will square off for the first time since 2004 in the battle at Yankee Stadium.

College Football Odds

Boston College Eagles (7-5) vs. Penn State Nittany Lions (6-6)
Saturday, Dec. 27
4:30 PM ET
Yankee Stadium/Bronx, NY
ESPN
College Football Betting Odds: BC -2.5
College Football O/U Odds: 40

***2014 CFB BONUSES***
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Click here to view… ATS Stats & Expert NCAA Betting Prediction Insight!

Boston College

The Eagles have the fourth best run defense in the country to go along with the 12th best pass defense, but are looking for their first bowl win since 2007. With such an outstanding defense it can be very easy to overlook their offense.

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Quarterback Tyler Murphy, leader of the Boston College offense has had a record shattering year. Murphy set the ACC record for most rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,079 and also the school record, which was previously held by Doug Flutie. To cap off his legendary year, Murphy led the Eagles to back-to-back 400+ yard rushing games against USC and Maine.

In the Eagles’ seven wins this year the defense held opponents to under 100 rushing yards in every game and under 20 yards in three games.

This game will definitely be a result of how BC’s defense performs, as its been all year, but their offense is much better than experts say.

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It is extremely hard to replace a Heisman candidate, running back Andre Williams, but freshman Jon Hilliman has had an impressive year. Hilliman has accounted for 12 rushing touchdowns on 719 yards.

Boston College has played a tough schedule this year and has played ranked opponents even tougher. The Eagles picked up a 47-31 win over USC and dropped games to Florida State and Clemson by three and four points.

Penn State

The Nittany Lions have an awful tough defense as well. They are led by Big Ten Butkus-Fitzgerald Linebacker of the year winner Mike Hull. Hull led the Big Ten in tackles with 134 and isn’t the only big time defensive player on the team.

Defensive tackle Anthony Zettel received first team all conference and led Penn State in tackles for loss with 15, sacks with eight, and also intercepted three passes.

Quarterback Christian Hackenberg did not have a good year compared to last seasons freshman of the year performance. He only threw for eight touchdowns after tossing 20 last year.

The offense has dictated the outcome of most Nittany Lion games this year. They started off 4-0 with the offense averaging 443 yards per game, but finished by dropping six of the last eight only averaging 266.6 yards per game.

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The bright spot on offense was freshman wide out DaeSean Hamilton who caught 75 passes for 848 yards and received second-team honors in the conference.

NCAA Handicapping Trends:

  • BC is 4-1 ATS in their last five games on grass.
  • PSU is 1-3-1 ATS in their last five games overall.
  • PSU is 1-5-2 in their last eight games after gaining less than 275 yards in their previous game.
  • BC is 5-2 ATS in their last seven games overall.
  • BC UNDER is 5-0 in last five games vs. Big Ten.
  • PSU UNDER is 5-1 in last six games vs. ACC.

New Era Pinstripe Bowl

Look for both offenses to struggle and defenses dominate in this contest. Throughout the year both offenses struggled to put up points, especially against good defenses. A 40 point under does seem very low, but with two top five defenses on the field points will be hard to come by.

Free 4* NCAA Football Betting Pick: UNDER 40

A lot of freshman play big roles on offense for both teams so expect mistakes from them in their first bowl game.

BC 24, PSU 14

Quarterbacks Hackenberg and Murphy will not be able to throw the ball down the field and red-zone touchdown conversions will be difficult.

Check out our Updated College Football Bowl Game Odds.

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By Kyle R.

Kyle is new to Cappers Picks and is from from Cleveland, OHIO. A Senior at The Ohio State University. Huge Cleveland sports fan (Cavs, Indians, and Browns), and has been been betting since he was legally allowed to do so ... at 18. He's also an avid shoe collector (mostly Jordans and LeBrons), and his dream is to see a championship in Cleveland, doesn’t matter if Browns, Indians, or Cavs. Any or all will do.