Ohio Stadium, aka The Shoe, has not been, NCAA football betting-wise, kind to the Penn State Nittany Lions, who have gone, in their last 11 trips there to play the Ohio State Buckeyes, 2-9 straight-up and against-the-spread. It must be, for OSU, a comforting thought that, following last season’s SU and ATS loss to PSU, the rivalry returns to Columbus Ohio, though their only loss of 2017 took place in their home opener against Oklahoma.
- Date: October 28
- Time: 3:35 PM
- Venue: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, OH
- Sportsbook online Vegas odds College Football Betting:
Penn State +6 (-110) +190
Ohio State -6 (-110) -230
Penn State a Shoe in for the College Football Playoff?
Few can, in a literal race, keep up with Penn State running back Saquon Barkley.
Unstoppable.
The only way to describe @PennStateFball's @saquonb21. pic.twitter.com/5fxHTYYLFi
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) October 23, 2017
But the Lions’ figurative race toward the CFP could come to a screeching halt at the Shoe. PSU has, then again, made a habit of meeting and surpassing expectations. Las Vegas thought, for instance, that Saturday’s game against Michigan was going to be decided by 7½ points; Penn State, at the end of the day, just the second school, the first none of other than the Buckeyes, to score more than 40 points against Jim Harbaugh’s vaunted Michigan defense to coast through to a 29-point margin of victory, the Lions’ third straight SU and ATS win, thanks in no small part to their defense, which has yet to concede more than 20 points this season. PSU is, in addition, 5-1 ATS in their last six road games, 11-1-1 ATS in their last 13 Big Ten games, and 15-4-2 ATS in their last 21 overall, while OSU is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games against Penn State and 4-0 ATS in their last four conference games, but 1-4 ATS in their last 5 home games and 1-4 against the NCAA football betting spread playing a team with a winning record.
King Kong ain’t got nothing on Ohio State
The Buckeyes have been, since their week 2 upset to Oklahoma, kicking arse and taking names. Ohio State is averaging 53.2 points and 619 offensive yards per game, while QB JT Barrett has been responsible for 22 TDs and no picks. There is, of course, a caveat, and it’s the fact that OSU’s competition has been, at best, subpar. Army, Rutgers and Las Vegas aren’t, even out together, fit to tie Saquon Barkley’s shoelaces. The Buckeye’s defense has held opponents to just 15.4 points per game this season, but the Heisman trophy candidate will be their first real challenge. The total has unsurprisingly gone over in OSU’s last four straight games, but will go up against a defense that has kept the total under in five of their seven regular season games. Ohio State has, in addition to home field advantage (the home team is 4-0 against the NCAA football betting spread in the last four encounters in this matchup), the benefit on an extra week of rest, though knowing head coach Urban Meyer, rest was the least thing the Buckeyes did during their bye.