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Ohio State opens as 14-point favorite

Penn State always plays the Buckeyes tough, especially at home. I would take Penn State with the points. This game will not be a blow out.

I think Penn State matches up better with Ohio State than with Michigan.

Plus it's a home game...coming off a nice victory that ended up not wearing us down either physically or emotionally.

Plus nobody in the world thinks we'll win, so ironically there's not a huge amount of pressure on a team that was seen at the beginning of the season as being a year or two away from serious contention.

In other words, there are certain intangibles lining up on our side.

So am I predicting a Penn State win? Uh...no.

But it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
 
I think Penn State matches up better with Ohio State than with Michigan.

Plus it's a home game...coming off a nice victory that ended up not wearing us down either physically or emotionally.

Plus nobody in the world thinks we'll win, so ironically there's not a huge amount of pressure on a team that was seen at the beginning of the season as being a year or two away from serious contention.

In other words, there are certain intangibles lining up on our side.

So am I predicting a Penn State win? Uh...no.

But it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
At the start of the year, I thought PSU was more of a threat to OSU than Michigan. In part because it is a home game for Penn State and an away game for UM. I did think PSU would play Michigan better than they did. I still think either team can beat Ohio State (hopefully not). The point spreads are meaningless.
 
I think Penn State matches up better with Ohio State than with Michigan.

Plus it's a home game...coming off a nice victory that ended up not wearing us down either physically or emotionally.

Plus nobody in the world thinks we'll win, so ironically there's not a huge amount of pressure on a team that was seen at the beginning of the season as being a year or two away from serious contention.

In other words, there are certain intangibles lining up on our side.

So am I predicting a Penn State win? Uh...no.

But it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
There is still the issue of the offensive and defensive lines. If Day was paying attention he will run right at PSU, then play action down the field.
 
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It’s been 7 years since O$U beat PSU by more than 13 points and only once in Franklion’s reign. In fact average MOV is 7 points in their last five wins. Take PSU. This will not be an AA repeat.
 
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I get the offensive machine aspect of the Buckeyes -- an excellent O-line, good running game, and outstanding passing game.

But, FWIW, they really have not played a tough schedule so far -- 4-3 Notre Dame gave them some difficulty in game #1, but no problems after that.

Let's see what happens if PSU can start out well. Could be a contest.
 
My advice.....bet the house on State!

OK, Spin, here's a deal for you: the moneyline, which is a straight bet to win, has Penn State at +440, meaning that if you put down $100 on us, and we win straight up, you collect $440. Or be real brave and do $500 for a $2200 payout.

Meanwhile, the point spread has increased to 15-15.5 (depending on the book), so the early money is definitely coming in on Ohio State.
 
I understand people see that big number (-15.5) and think #2 vs #13 with #13 at home and that's absurd but it's because this will either be a repeat of Michigan or a game within a score. I wouldn't feel good about betting on either team

I'd strongly consider putting money on Stanford (-16) against UCLA though
 
Ohio St has put up big numbers but it has been against a weak schedule. Toledo is their top opponent with 5 wins and equal to our opponent Ohio, literally tied with them in the MAC. Notre Dame is 4-3 now but lost to Marshall at home and 3 win Stanford.

Ohio st also beat 4-3 Rutgers. They caught Wisconsin before they started turning it around and they still don't have a winning record. Mich st has a losing record. Ark St is a bad team.

It's just hard to confidently say how good the Buckeyes at this point. They could be as good as anyone or maybe the 2 loss team they were last year.
 
Ohio St has put up big numbers but it has been against a weak schedule. Toledo is their top opponent with 5 wins and equal to our opponent Ohio, literally tied with them in the MAC. Notre Dame is 4-3 now but lost to Marshall at home and 3 win Stanford.

Ohio st also beat 4-3 Rutgers. They caught Wisconsin before they started turning it around and they still don't have a winning record. Mich st has a losing record. Ark St is a bad team.

It's just hard to confidently say how good the Buckeyes at this point. They could be as good as anyone or maybe the 2 loss team they were last year.
OSU is better than the team from last year. The D is significantly better. The offense is as good or even a little better.
 
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Ohio St has put up big numbers but it has been against a weak schedule. Toledo is their top opponent with 5 wins and equal to our opponent Ohio, literally tied with them in the MAC. Notre Dame is 4-3 now but lost to Marshall at home and 3 win Stanford.

Ohio st also beat 4-3 Rutgers. They caught Wisconsin before they started turning it around and they still don't have a winning record. Mich st has a losing record. Ark St is a bad team.

It's just hard to confidently say how good the Buckeyes at this point. They could be as good as anyone or maybe the 2 loss team they were last year.
They scored double the number of points against Iowa than Michigan did. Don't know if Iowa forced either OSU or MI to punt.

I remember the exact same type of comments being made about MI that are being made now so I would take any rationalizations using "weak schedule" with a grain of salt. Our predictions for UM on that were about as wrong as one could be.

I don't see them losing to PSU but anything could happen.
 
Is the WR with hamstring issues going to play? I know he tweaked it again vs Iowa.
 
OK, Spin, here's a deal for you: the moneyline, which is a straight bet to win, has Penn State at +440, meaning that if you put down $100 on us, and we win straight up, you collect $440. Or be real brave and do $500 for a $2200 payout.

Meanwhile, the point spread has increased to 15-15.5 (depending on the book), so the early money is definitely coming in on Ohio State.
Well, Suckeyes are known for their elite wide receivers. But our d backs will shut them down. Their QB is gonna struggle. The question is our O vs their D. Can our TEs get open and help the run game? Our wideouts haven’t shown much. One good thing was seeing Singleton scoring again. And his passion and excitement when he did get into the end zone was great. Maybe that energy will energize our offense as it does need it.

I say we beat the spread, maybe pull off the upset. While not a Whiteout the stadium will be buzzing. Even the student section will be full at kickoff.
 
Well, Suckeyes are known for their elite wide receivers. But our d backs will shut them down. Their QB is gonna struggle. The question is our O vs their D. Can our TEs get open and help the run game? Our wideouts haven’t shown much. One good thing was seeing Singleton scoring again. And his passion and excitement when he did get into the end zone was great. Maybe that energy will energize our offense as it does need it.

I say we beat the spread, maybe pull off the upset. While not a Whiteout the stadium will be buzzing. Even the student section will be full at kickoff.
If the DB Penn State puts on Harrison can shut him down the whole game, then he is a sure fire 1st round draft pick. The best OSU receiver may not play. He still has a hammy.
 
Well, Suckeyes are known for their elite wide receivers. But our d backs will shut them down. Their QB is gonna struggle. The question is our O vs their D. Can our TEs get open and help the run game? Our wideouts haven’t shown much. One good thing was seeing Singleton scoring again. And his passion and excitement when he did get into the end zone was great. Maybe that energy will energize our offense as it does need it.

I say we beat the spread, maybe pull off the upset. While not a Whiteout the stadium will be buzzing. Even the student section will be full at kickoff.
I'm not going to say we shut down their receivers. I think we can limit their damage. I'm actually more concerned about being bullied in the run game. If we can be neutral on the run then we can have a chance. If we cannot threaten with our own run game enough to keep their d guessing a little then we won't score enough to keep pace.

My only point earier was that it's hard to really gage Ohio St at this point because other than a very weak Notre Dame team, they really haven't been challenged yet.
 
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I'm not going to say we shut down their receivers. I think we can limit their damage. I'm actually more concerned about being bullied in the run game. If we can be neutral on the run then we can have a chance. If we cannot threaten with our own run game enough to keep their d guessing a little then we won't score enough to keep pace.

My only point earier was that it's hard to really gage Ohio St at this point because other than a very weak Notre Dame team, they really haven't been challenged yet.
But have we really been challenged other than Michigan which we couldn't handle?
 
But have we really been challenged other than Michigan which we couldn't handle?
We've played a tougher schedule than Ohio St if that's what you are getting at. Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue are likely all better at the time played than Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Rutgers.
 
We've played a tougher schedule than Ohio St if that's what you are getting at. Michigan, Minnesota and Purdue are likely all better at the time played than Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and Rutgers.
Ehh---our SOS is better because of Michigan. the rest are all about the same. This "at the time we played them" doesn't work because Minnesota was without Morgan. Given that they aren't close to the others you mentioned.

Ohio State's SOR is better than our's despite us having a loss.
 
For the record, I'm not saying we can't hang with Ohio State. We could but we could also get blown out. Neither result would be shocking.
 
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The story is that they are completely boat racing these teams they play (ND not included but that was a while ago). PSU is no where close to complete dominance of its opponents like Ohiya is doing.

It will take our best game by a wide margin. What does that look like....Clifford has an excellent game, O-Line creates running room, Allen and Singleton run well, tight ends factor in a big way, a WR comes up big, the D-Line and LB limit run damage and get some pressure on Stroud, the secondary contains their WRs. We also need a sub par O$U effort (think turnovers, penalties, missed assignments. etc). IF all that falls into place we can pull off the upset. One in ten probability.
 
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