Nebraska Football Opens as Touchdown Underdog for Trip to Penn State

Nebraska football appears to have an uphill climb for its trip to Happy Valley.

The Huskers (7-3, 4-3 Big Ten) were 7½-point underdogs in the opening betting lines for their game at Penn State (4-6, 3-3 Big Ten) on Saturday. Betting lines opened Wednesday, Nov. 13, but adjusted Saturday to favor Penn State by 8½ points. The Nittany Lions continued to receive favor from betting odds, pushing the spread to favor Penn State by 10 in the consensus line Sunday morning.

Kickoff time is set in State College. pic.twitter.com/hogRGtMY90
— Nebraska Football (@HuskerFootball) November 16, 2025

DraftKings favors Penn State by 10, while FanDuel adds a half-point to the home team at 10½ points. The consensus line was set Sunday morning at 10 points.

Nebraska football has opened as an underdog only twice this season, while the closing line has placed the Huskers as an underdog three times. Nebraska has been listed as a favorite eight times this season, including its neutral-site matchup with Cincinnati in the season opener on Aug. 28 at Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium and in back-to-back games at Maryland and Minnesota.

The total points odds for Nebraska and Penn State are set at 44½ points. The total points match Nebraska and UCLA's opening point total at 44½ points.

Nebraska is 4-5-1 this season against the spread in 2025, going 3-2-1 at Memorial Stadium, 1-3 away from Lincoln, 1-4-1 as a favorite, and 2-1 as an underdog. The Huskers won the season opener over Cincinnati 20-17 but failed to cover as six-point favorites, but rebounded with blowout wins over Akron (68-0) and Houston Christian (59-7) as 34½-point favorites against the Zips and 48½-point favorites against the Huskies. Nebraska's 30-27 loss to Michigan failed to cover the Nebraska 1½-point underdog line, as the Huskers then failed to cover the final 13-point spread in a 38-27 home win over Michigan State.

The Huskers failed to cover back-to-back road lines as a seven-point favorite at Maryland on Oct. 11, then dropped a Friday night tilt at Minnesota 24-6, failing to cover the 6 1/2-point spread. Nebraska met the spread at seven points when facing Northwestern, earning the outright win 28-21. Nebraska did cover as a 4½-point underdog against USC, covering in the 21-17 home loss. NU covered as a 2½-point underdog on the road at UCLA before its final regular season bye week.

Nebraska Cornhuskers quarterback TJ Lateef drops back to pass against the UCLA Bruins during the second half at the Rose Bowl. | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Huskers are 7-3 on the season in their over/under history this season. Nebraska failed to cover the point total in its season opener at Arrowhead Stadium against Cincinnati and against USC (59½ points), but did hit the over against Akron (47½ points), Houston Christian (59½ points), Michigan (47½ points), Michigan State (48½ points), and Northwestern (44½ points). The Big Red failed to cover for the first time at home against USC (59½ points) on Nov. 1.

Nebraska is 3-1 in road over/unders, notching 65 total points in the Huskers' road win at Maryland and covering the 47½ total points, but could not muster enough scoring to match the 47½-point total at Minnesota. NU and UCLA covered the 46½ point total on Nov. 8 prior to Nebraska's bye week.

Penn State is 3-7 overall against the spread this season, going 1-5 at home and 2-2 on the road. The Nittany Lions are 1-3 as a betting favorite and 2-1 as an underdog. Penn State has covered in back-to-back weeks, hanging with Indiana as a 14 point underdog then winning 28-10 as a seven point favorite over Michigan State.

The Nittany Lions are 7-3 in point totals this season, going 4-2 at home and 3-1 on the road. Penn State is 2-2 as a betting favorite in point totals and 3-0 as an underdog. PSU has hit its over in three of the last four games, going under the 48½ point total against Michigan State but covering the 41½ point total at Iowa, 44½ point total at Ohio State, and the 49½ point total against Indiana.

Penn State is 15th in the Big Ten Conference standings after seven conference games, going 1-6 in the Big Ten and 4-6 overall. The Nittany Lions' first conference win came on Saturday at Michigan State in PSU's 28-10 road win. After beginning the season as a top five rated team, Penn State lost six straight conference matchups beginning on Sept. 27 in overtime to Oregon. The Nittany Lions then fell to UCLA, Northwestern, Iowa, Ohio State, and Indiana. Penn State fired coach James Franklin following the Northwestern loss, placing Terry Smith as the interim.

Matt Rhule has coached against Penn State twice before, going 1-1 while at Temple. | Matthew O'Haren-Imagn Images

"We just keep our guys focused on playing hard, playing aggressive, staying together as a team, playing as one, playing for the brotherhood of Penn State," Smith said during a postgame interview with CBS. "And we all love football, so this is what we want to do. We chose to do it. And I'm just happy these guys got a victory."

I'm just super happy for our kids. I'm super happy for our program. I'm super happy for our fans and our following. We deserve this game," Smith said in his postgame press conference.

Nebraska is tenth in the Big Ten Conference standings with a 4-3 Big Ten record and 7-3 mark overall. The Huskers are coming off of a bye week following a 28-21 road win at UCLA following the loss of starting quarterback Dylan Raiola to a broken fibula in the 21-17 loss against USC.

“I hope our players in this bye (week) take a moment to see how far they’ve come personally and where they’re headed and also look at the examples of the guys on the team who waited their turn,” coach Matt Rhule said. “It’s very, very hard, and it’s not in vogue anymore to wait your turn. Sometimes it’s like well go here and do this, just go there. Guys like Emmett (Johnson), they had chances, but they stayed, and he deserves everything he’s getting.”

Nebraska heads to Penn State Saturday for a 6 p.m. CST kickoff in Happy Valley. The game will be televised on NBC and can be heard across the Husker Radio Network's affiliate stations.

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