Penn State at Ohio State Saturday, 5 pm PT – ESPN CRIS Opener: Ohio State -18 O/U 47 CRIS Current: Ohio State -17 O/U 48 Recommendation: Penn StateOhio State’s pointspread futility continued last week as it didn’t sniff a cover in its 49-28 win over Maryland. Yes, the Buckeyes are being asked to lay overinflated prices and no, bettors aren’t going to be suddenly subject to a ton of value with this squad. However, it’s important to point out that while OSU hasn’t looked smooth, they are still dominating the opposition. Take a look at their game-by-game yards per play gained an allowed breakdown.Ohio State (10.21 ypp)/Virginia Tech (4.64 ypp) Ohio State (4.37 ypp)/Hawaii (2.70 ypp) Ohio State (4.52 ypp)/Northern Illinois (2.57 ypp) Ohio State (7.30 ypp)/Western Michigan (4.57 ypp) Ohio State (8.48 ypp)/Indiana (4.42 ypp) Ohio State (6.48 ypp)/Maryland (5.59 ypp)All told, Ohio State has outgained its first six opponents by an average of 2.57 yards per play. That’s a half yard better than last year’s squad that won the National Championship.The reason for the non-covers basically comes down to the little things all of which are correctable. Despite averaging 6.48 ypp, the Buckeyes’ red zone touchdown rate is 55% (95th nationally). They’ve committed 65 yards worth of penalties per game (92nd nationally). And they’ve coughed up 13 turnovers (108th nationally). The problem though is the market numbers attached to OSU are largely created by the aforementioned statistical domination and not the shortcomings with consistently sloppy play. Note that the Buckeyes look to have somewhat shored up their quarterback quandary by using J.T. Barrett inside the red zone (6-for-6 TDs vs. …
Continue Reading: College Football Betting Preview: Penn State Nittany Lions at Ohio State Buckeyes
