Penn State vs. Rutgers Picks and Predictions, Saturday, November 29th, 2025
The Penn State Nittany Lions (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-6, 2-6 Big Ten) will battle to see who becomes bowl eligible in the final game of the regular season in this Penn State vs. Rutgers prediction. These teams did not meet last season. The Nittany Lions just won big at home against Nebraska 37-10, easily covering as 7.5-point favorites. The Scarlet Knights went to #1 Ohio State and lost 42-9, missing the cover as 28.5-point dogs. Kickoff is set for 3:30 EST and can be found on the Big Ten Network. Keep reading for more of our Penn State vs. Rutgers prediction, and check out our best College Football Picks!
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Penn State Wins Two Straight
The Penn State Nittany Lions come into this game after winning their last two games, which typically would not be headline news in Happy Valley, but this has been a tumultuous season. James Franklin was fired as head coach after a long stay in Penn State, with Terry Smith stepping up to lead the team in the interim after being the Associate Head Coach. Penn State just beat Michigan State on the road and Nebraska easily at home, signaling the program may have settled down after the midseason storm.
During Penn State's win over Nebraska, running back Kaytron Allen became the program's all-time leading rusher, passing Saquon Barkley and Evan Royster at the top. He is a 5'11 senior who has rushed for 1,077 yards this season with 14 touchdowns, and has topped 140 rushing yards in four games this season, including a 181-yard game against Michigan State. The Nittany Lions have turned to Ethan Grunkmeyer at quarterback. The 6'2 freshman was near perfect last week, connecting on 11 of his 12 passes for 181 yards. On the season, he has 870 yards and a 5-4 TD-INT ratio.
Trebor Pena has been their top receiver in terms of yardage, the 5'10 senior has 416 yards but just one touchdown. Devonte Ross has scored more with five touchdowns to go with his 388 yards as another 5'10 senior. Their defense has 25 sacks on the season, led by defensive end Dani Dennis-Sutton with six. Penn State has six interceptions on defense from six different players.
Injury Report for Penn State:
- Out: QB, Drew Allar (1,100 passing yards), LB Tony Rojas (25 tackles)
- A lot of players are questionable. Most are not key players.
Scarlet Knights Search for Big Win
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights have just two conference wins this season, and there are only three teams in the Big Ten with fewer league wins. Those teams include the winless Michigan State and Purdue, as well as the one-win Maryland Terrapins. As for Rutgers, their only two wins came against two of those teams (Purdue and Maryland), meaning Rutgers has only been successful against the bottom of the conference this season. This final game is a big chance for Rutgers to take down the prestigious Nittany Lions, while also gaining bowl eligibility.
Their starting quarterback is Athan Kaliakmanis, the 6'3 senior is in his second year as the starter in New Jersey, after transferring over in-conference from Minnesota. This season he has 2,786 passing yards with a quality 17-7 TD-INT ratio. He struggled against Ohio State last week, but so do most quarterbacks; he also passed for 359 yards in their win against Purdue. Their top running back is Antwan Raymond, the sophomore out of Canada leads the team with 1,052 yards on the ground and 12 touchdowns. Raymond has three 100-plus yard games this season, including a dominant 240-yard game in their win over Maryland.
Rutgers is getting quality production from two wideouts; 6'6 sophomore KJ Duff has 957 yards and six touchdowns, while 6'3 junior Ian Strong has 725 yards and five touchdowns. Their defense has ten sacks on the season, with no player on the unit getting more than three individually. The team has five interceptions, led by safety Jett Elad, who has two picks, and also leads the team with 66 tackles.
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Key Injury Report for Rutgers:
- Similar to Penn State, Rutgers has nine players listed as questionable, but none of them are starters.
Penn State vs. Rutgers Picks and Predictions
Spread pick for Penn State vs. Rutgers
- Rutgers +13.5 (4 units)
This Penn State team is coming off two wins, but let's not forget the program nearly fell apart midseason when they lost six straight games, three of which came against unranked opponents. They did not get a boost in coaching or an increase in talent; they just played an awful Michigan State team and beat up on Nebraska, which did not have their starting quarterback. Penn State will not air it out here; they only threw 12 passes last week. They will rely on the ground game with Allen, but that strategy will not run up the score; it will take more time off the clock. Similarly, Raymond is a strong back for Rutgers with over 1,000 yards, and both teams keep the ball on the ground, leading to a tightly contested battle. Take the points at home.
Take Rutgers with the points
Over/Under Pick for Penn State vs. Rutgers
- Under 55.5 (4 units)
This is far too many points for this game due to the style of play we will see. There are two 1,000-yard rushers in this game, meaning both teams will be willing to ground and pound and look to control the ball. Penn State is on their backup quarterback, who has been sacked ten times and has only passed for over 185 yards once over his last five starts. Rutgers will also not air it out against tough defenses, as Kaliakmanis was only 10-20 with 81 yards last week. Rutgers has gone under in each of their last four, and will keep the trend going here.
Take the under.
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