Buckeyes open as heavy road favorite for primetime game at Michigan State
COLUMBUS — Ohio State closed out nonconference play with a second straight offensive explosion. Following a 56-point outburst against Western Michigan two weeks ago, the Buckeyes had 49 points on 57 plays Saturday vs. Marshall.
Now, this offensive show will go on the road for the first time, and it’ll do so in prime time.
Because of how good this Buckeyes offense has shown to be and how good we know this defense to be, Ohio State opened as a 24.5-point favorite for the road opener at Michigan State (7:30 p.m., Peacock).
The total has been set at 49.5.
If the Ohio State offense can travel as well as we expect this defense to travel, the Buckeyes will have no problem next weekend, even in a primetime slot at Michigan State. Because this Buckeyes offense has been really good for the last couple of weeks.
“I was sitting on the sideline today, and I was just talking to some of the other quarterbacks, Devin and Julian. I was like, ‘our offense is so explosive.’ It’s crazy,” senior quarterback Will Howard said after the win over Marshall. “Literally every play could be a touchdown. If we block everything up and get everything, every play could break for a touchdown. It’s exciting. It makes it kind of fun. You never know what’s going to happen on any certain play.
“For me, I just have to do my job, and I just have to keep us on schedule and be sharp. And I think we did a good job of that today.”
Ohio State will need to do another good job of creating explosive plays in both the run game and through the air. If it does that, the 24.5-point spread will be covered. If the Spartans can contain this offense, well, take the points.
Ohio State at Michigan State betting notes, trends
+ Ohio State is 1-2 against the spread this season
+ Michigan State is 1-2-1 against the number
+ The Buckeyes are 17-3 straight up and 14-6 against the spread in their last 20 games against Michigan State
+ The total has gone OVER in all three Ohio State games so far
+ Three of Michigan State’s four games have went UNDER
+ The Buckeyes have won eight straight in this series and covered in each of the last seven
+ Michigan State is 1-11 straight up and 2-10 against the spread in its last 12 games against top-10 teams
+ Ohio State is 10-8-3 against the spread as a road favorite under Ryan Day
+ The Buckeyes haven’t lost on the road to an unranked team since 2018 at Purdue
+ Michigan State’s last win over a ranked team came in 2021 against Michigan
