The Ohio State Buckeyes return to action as NCAA football betting favorites against the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday, October 1st at Ohio Stadium in Columbus. Here are the odds in case you would like to place an NCAA football bet:
Rutgers +38½ (-110) 57½ (-110) +16500
Ohio State -38½ (-110) 57½ (-110) -49500
The Buckeyes were last seen on September 17th when they beat the Oklahoma Sooners 45-24, thus managing to retain their No. 2 spot in spite of their inactivity the following week – and all but ending Oklahoma’s hopes of returning to the College Football Playoff in the process. Meanwhile, the Buckeyes are a candidate to win the national championship, just like Ohio State QB J.T. Barrett is a candidate for the Heisman trophy.
Barrett went 14 of 20 for 152 yards with four TDs passes to wide receiver Noah Brown, who had 75 yards on five receptions against the Sooners. The Buckeyes opened the score with a 36-yard touchdown run by Curtis Samuel, gained full control of the game when Marshon Lattimore picked off Curtis Mayfield and Brown caught a 37-yard touchdown pass from Barrett on the following play.
The Scarlet Knights had a two-game winning streak snapped by the Iowa Hawkeyes. Rutgers got to the Hawkeyes 17 after falling behind late, and tied the game early in the fourth quarter on a 14-yard touchdown pass from QB Chris Laviano to wide receiver Andre Patton in the left corner of the end zone with 12:45 remaining. However, Iowa safety Brandon Snyder stripped Patton from the ball with less than nine minutes left to set up the go-ahead TD for a final score of 14-7. The Knights played their best defense of the season, but the offense let down NCAA football betting fans who put money on Rutgers to win.
The game on Saturday will mark Rutgers head coach Chris Ash first game against his mentor Urban ‘Outfitters’ Meyer. It’s safe to say that the student has not surpassed the teacher just yet, though. As a matter of fact, the Knights are among the biggest NCAA football betting underdogs in week 5. The last time that Rutgers pulled an upset against a top 5 ranked team was in 2007, when they beat then-No.2 South Florida. That’s not to say that the Knights have not improved under Ash – which they have. It’s just that he’s still quite a ways away from Meyer’s 31-1 conference record since taking over the Buckeyes in 2012.
While Ohio State looks like a well-oiled machine, Rutgers still has a few kinks to smooth out. For instance, Ash has to work on getting Laviano better protection. His QB was sacked four times by the Hawkeyes, and has been sacked eight times so far this season. On the other hand, Rutgers’ pass defense has allowed fewer than 200 passing yards in three consecutive games. Then again, that could be chalked up to opposing teams successfully running it. Barrett might not encounter too much trouble dissecting the Knight’s secondary.