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Ohio State vs. Rutgers point spread: Picking Buckeyes vs. Scarlet Knights

Barkley-Truaxby:Barkley Truax10/30/23

BarkleyTruax

Ohio State WR Marvin Harrison Jr.
Adam Cairns | Columbus Dispatch | USA TODAY NETWORK

Rutgers heads into Week 10 as an 18.5-point underdog at home against Ohio State. According to On3’s Andy Staples and this week’s guest picker Dan Rubenstein — they both agree that the Scarlet Knights have the power to cover the spread.

“The Rutgers fan base is probably the happiest in the Big Ten, right? You’re out-performing expectations — you have obviously Michigan fans extremely defensive about off-field stuff, Ohio State fans that are just hating watching their own offensive line but a little bit happier after the Wisconsin game — and you look beyond that Rutgers is the one with the defense. Rutgers is the one generating big plays on the ground,” Rubenstein told Staples. “And Rutgers is the one that — other than that Michigan game — has been an absolute pain in the ass for everybody to play.

“So, I think I like Rutgers here in a bit of a letdown spot. I don’t think they’re going to win this game, and I think they’ll lose by a couple touchdowns.”

If Rutgers loses by two touchdowns, they cover the spread. Three scores seems a lot to Staples and Rubenstein, and picking a home team with a good defense to cover the spread is a rule both men are living by when it comes to picking this matchup.

“Especially if it’s a bigger line,” Rubenstein continued. “Especially if it’s in kind of a letdown spot for Ohio State under the NBC game — and Ohio State can absolutely win this game by 31 points — but if this game were played 10 times or 100 times, I think they can cover it 75 percent of the time. So, I’m just going with rudimentary math here. Well, my own version of rudimentary math, and I’m going with Rutgers to cover. They’ll lose, eh, I don’t know, by 14.”

At 6-2, Rutgers is the quintessential so-called trap game for Ohio State. A loss like that would likely ruin the Buckeyes’ efforts of making a College Football Playoff run this season, but a victory for Rutgers would change everything for the Scarlet Knights.

Still, even being able to cover the spread at home against a team like the Buckeyes should be looked at as a victory. Head coach Greg Schiano has his team off to its best start in years, and is already bowl eligible for the first time during his tenure heading into Week 10.

Opening kickoff between the Buckeyes and Scarlet Knights is set for Noon ET live on CBS. The over/under total is set at 42.5 points.