The Boilermakers need a performance of a lifetime to head out of Ohio Stadium with a win. They take on the heavily favored Buckeyes, who are still unbeaten this season and have one of the most exciting players college football has ever seen.
Purdue vs. Ohio State
Odds Overview
Shocking absolutely no one, Ohio State is an 18.5 point odds favorite at most sportsbooks for this weekend's Big Ten matchup.
The Buckeyes come in 7-0 SU and 3-4 ATS, while the
Boilermakers are 3-3 both SU and ATS.
The line total opened at 62 points and hasn't budged much at all.
The OVER has hit more often than not for both teams so far, going a combined
8-4 in 12 total games.
Purdue Boilermakers
Big 10 play has not been kind in the slightest to the
Boilermakers, who have lost by an average margin of 29.5 points in their two
conference losses.
Did we mention that
both games were at home?
First off, Purdue hosted Michigan and got trounced 44-13.
Then, this past weekend, they lost 38-14 to Wisconsin in a game where the Boilermakers
were brutal on both sides of the ball.
On offense, Purdue mustered only 252 total yards, 128 of
which came on the ground. On the other side of the ball, they gave up a
ridiculous 645 yards, as the Badgers' rushing attacked embarrassed the Boilermakers
to the tune of 467 yards. Montee Ball alone had 247 yards rushing and three
touchdowns.
Truth be told, there's just not much the Boilermakers do
well. They're #73 in total defense and #74 in total offense. They're getting
torched for 198.7 rushing yards per game, so how on earth are they going to
stop Braxton Miller?
Ohio State Buckeyes
Despite beating Indiana last weekend, Urban Meyer was not
pleased at all with his team's defensive showing. The Buckeyes gave up 49
points and had to recover an onside kick to hold on for the win.
However, Ohio State still moved the ball at will against the
Hoosiers.
Braxton Miller had 211 passing yards and two touchdown
throws, then, added on 149 yards and another score with his legs. Running back
Carlos Hyde got most of the work in the backfield, finishing with 22 carries
for 156 yards and a trip to the endzone as well.
Miller's top target of the day was Dean Smith, who had two
catches for 106 yards and two TDs. He had a 60-yard touchdown grab and a
46-yard scoring play in the victory, and now has six total touchdowns on the
season.
Giving up 49 points to Indiana was certainly concerning
though. The Buckeyes allowed the Hoosiers to score 35 second-half points,
including 22 in the fourth quarter alone.
College Football Pick
Meyer reportedly met with his defensive coaches and players
during the week to figure out what went wrong, in hopes that that type of
performance won't happen again.
Whatever Meyer does ends up working for the most part, so we
wouldn't be surprised to see the Buckeyes come out and dominate on the
defensive side of the ball this weekend. We saw a lot of quotes from defensive
players who said themselves, how upset they were and that they would get it
right going forward. So, don't be surprised if it's this weekend against the
Boilermakers, who have totaled only 27 points over the last two weeks.
In addition, Purdue just doesn't have the manpower to keep
Miller reigned in. I'm putting him and the Buckeyes on my NCAAF picks to have another monstrous day, leading Ohio State to
a big win and ATS cover.
ATS Pick: Ohio State Buckeyes -18.5