Purdue At Penn State 2013: H&R Staff Picks

With only three games left spirits are at an all-time low around here. Still, the staff of Hammer & Rails soldiers on with its picks for tomorrow's game at Penn State.

Paul Branham, Pilot, Boilermaker Special VII

Hey, the Central Connecticut State game was fun to watch! Oh, you want football stuff? Well, we will have the Boilermaker Special there as always, hanging out at the Purdue Alumni Association tailgate by the baseball stadium, so come join us if you're going to the game! In the interest of personal sanity though, I am tempering expectations for anything not basketball-related right now. Penn State 42, Purdue 17

Juan Crespo

I've given up on football for a year. Penn State: A big number, Purdue: Butt Fumble.

Rachel Van Gessel

Purdue heads into Happy Valley in search of their elusive first win over an FBS team, and sadly they aren't going to get it. If Allen Robinson plays its only going to open up even more things for Penn State's running game. I don't expect them to gash us up like other teams buts it hard to think they won't put up as many yards of offense against us. When we have the ball our struggles will continue. There's only so much Danny Etling can do with the O-line in front of him. He'll need to play smarter and hopefully the receivers will be able to get open for him.  Purdue 10 Penn State 31

T-Mill

After reading a lot on the Nittany Lions this week I see that their fans are not confident with this team. There are even some that think that Bill O'Brien is not doing a good job despite having barely over 50 scholarship players (basically an FCS team) and he will still likely have them bowl eligible if not for the sanctions. They are far from perfect, but many expected year two of the sanctions to have them barely competitive week in and week out.

Instead, the team that is barely competitive is Purdue, with 85 scholarship players. The unit that has taken most of the criticism, the offensive line, is going to see changes this week with Cameron Cermin possibly playing at guard and center. J.J. Price may also get time. This is with Jason King and Jordan Roos already starting at the guard spots. I think it has been a long time coming. The four seniors did not get it done this year. It is time to move on and completely rebuild the line with freshman and hope they are a long term solution.

It may work out in the end and even be slightly better in the short term (Purdue gave up only two sacks last week), but for now, we can likely expect more struggles. Penn State 24, Purdue 3