Marshall Thundering Herd vs Penn State Nittany Lions Prediction, Picks and Game Preview - 09/05/2026

Game Time: 3:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 5, 2026

Venue:  West Shore Home Field at Beaver Stadium, University Park, PA

Where to Watch:  FS1

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Marshall +24.5, PSU -24.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Marshall +24.5, PSU -24.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Marshall +24.5, PSU -24.5; Over/Under:  54.5 points

Marshall Thundering Herd:  0-0 (0-0) (Sun Belt East)

Penn State Nittany Lions:  0-0 (0-0) (Big Ten)

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Marshall Thundering Herd:  N/A

Penn State Nittany Lions:  N/A

Marshall finished last season with a 5-7 record overall and they had a 3-5 record in their conference games too.  They were 3-3 in their home games, 2-4 in their road games, and they were also 0-0 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be on the road for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 30.8 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 30.2 points per game. Their offense also averaged 404.9 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 410.6 yards per game. Carlos Del Rio-Wilson led the team in passing yards with 2,043, Carlos Del Rio-Wilson led the team in rushing yards with 660, and Demarcus Lacey led the team in receiving yards with 769.

 

 

 

Penn State finished last season with a 7-6 record overall and they had a 3-6 record in their conference games too.  They were 4-3 in their home games, 2-3 in their road games, and they were also 1-0 in their neutral site games last season, but they will be at home for this season opener. Last season, their offense was averaging 31 points scored per game while their defense was allowing an average of 20.5 points per game. Their offense also averaged 362 yards per game while their defense was allowing an average of 326.8 yards per game. Ethan Grunkemeyer led the team in passing yards with 1,339, Kaytron Allen led the team in rushing yards with 1,303, and Trebor Pena led the team in receiving yards with 552.

The current betting odds have Penn State listed as a 24.5 point favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. Penn State is coming off a bad season going 7-6 and their season was completely derailed. They were ranked inside the top 10 to start the season, but slowly the wheels started to come off which eventually led to the firing of James Franklin. Now they have hired Matt Campbell to take over and he is coming off a good season at Iowa State last season. He built a solid program at Iowa State over the last few years and now he is bringing a lot of that talent with him to Penn State. There is a ton of turnover on the Penn State roster from last season, but a fresh start with a new head coach could be exactly what they need and they aren't going to have the toughest schedule in the Big Ten either. Meanwhile, Marshall is coming off a bad season going 5-7 and they just missed out on bowl eligibility last year. Last year was also a tough year for them with Tony Gibson being in his 1st year as head coach, so they will be looking to take a big step this year and improve in his 2nd year. There is definitely more consistency with the roster this season, compared to when he took over last year, but they still aren't going to bring in the talent that Penn State does. Penn State is also entering a redemption season, so they aren't going to take any opponents lightly as Campbell still has something to prove here. Penn State lucked into a great head coach when it looked like their search was going to be a disaster, so they are going to come out strong in this 1st game and show that last season was just a blip on the radar. The best way to place a bet here is on Penn State to cover the spread in this game. 

Marshall Penn State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 5, 2026 (3:30 pm ET start time) is Penn State 49 Marshall 14.

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Marshall Thundering Herd: 16-7 ATS against FBS division opponents. 9-1 ATS as an underdog. 9-2 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56. 7-3 OVER as an underdog. 5-2 OVER in a road game where the total is between 49.5 and 56.

Penn State Nittany Lions: 5-8 ATS as a home favorite. 2-10 ATS in the first half of the season. 8-4 ATS when the total is between 49.5 and 56. 

Marshall Thundering Herd:  None.

Penn State Nittany Lions:  None.

"The hours of sleep I get at night to just the way we manage things, it's so much smoother right now. Obviously, we kept a good core of our players, returning guys there. Again, a year ago I was standing up here telling you I had 75 new players. It was hard. It was a hard year. It was a learning year all the way around. Made a lot of mistakes in year one with just a lot of different things. You know it was a year that I had to rebuild this thing and get it the way that I wanted it and I was able to do that." - Tony Gibson on entering year 2 as head coach of Marshall.

“We’re in the storm. We don’t know when adversity is coming, but it is coming. What you want at this point is prepare the team for the journey and continue to pound away.” - Matt Campbell on his team coming into this new CFB season. 

WR Norton, Adrian

WR Tamarez, De'Andre

WR Culliver, Chris

TE Payne, Toby

QB Del Rio-Wilson, Carlos

RB Barbie, Jo'Shon

WR Sowell, Chase

WR Eskildsen, Brett

WR Howard, Koby

TE Rappleyea, Andrew

QB Becht, Rocco

RB Hansen, Carson

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Passing: N/A

Rushing: N/A

Receiving: N/A

Touchdowns: N/A

Coaches:

Marshall Thundering Herd: Tony Gibson (2nd season)

Penn State Nittany Lions: Matt Campbell (1st season)