The Penn State Nittany Lions and Ohio State Buckeyes clash Saturday in week 9 Big Ten college football action from Beaver Stadium. Ohio State is fresh off a matchup versus Iowa. In that one, the Buckeyes won by 44 points. As for Penn State, they played Minnesota in their last outing. The Lions also won their matchup in a blowout. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Ohio State opened up the season with a 21-10 win over Notre Dame, then took out Arkansas State 45-12. The Buckeyes kept it rolling with wins 77-21 over Toledo, 52-21 over Wisconsin, 49-10 against Rutgers and 49-20 versus Michigan State.
In the Iowa game, the Buckeyes scored double-digit points in every quarter and held the Hawkeyes to zero second-half points in a 54-10 win. QB CJ Stroud managed 286 yards with four touchdowns and a pick. Julian Fleming caught two balls for 105 yards and a score.
Over on the Penn State side, their year opened up with a five-game win streak. The Lions took out Purdue 35-31, Ohio 46-10, Auburn 41-12, Central Michigan 33-14 and Northwestern 17-7 before their first loss to Michigan 41-17.
Matched up against Minnesota, Penn State got off to a bit of a slow start but made up for it with 21 third-quarter points in a 45-17 blowout win. QB Sean Clifford finished with 295 yards, four scores and a pick. Nick Singleton added 79 rush yards with two more scores.
The Buckeyes are 4-0-1 ATS in their last five overall and 3-0-1 ATS in the last four conference games. Ohio State is 6-2-1 ATS in their last nine after an ATS win.
Meanwhile, the Lions are 36-16-1 ATS in their last 53 after a straight-up win and the over is 4-0 in the last four versus a team with a winning record.
PICK: I’m probably going to stay with Ohio State. That said, both teams are coming off impressive victories so this one could go either way cover-wise. The Buckeyes dominated Iowa over the weekend, holding the Hawkeyes to just 158 total yards, eight first downs, six turnovers and an ugly 1-of-13 rate on third-down attempts. Ohio State wasn’t particularly great offensively (360 yards, two turnovers, 3-of-13 on third downs), but they didn’t need to be.
As for Penn State, they posted some pretty solid defense stats themselves, giving up just 16 first downs and a 2-of-13 run on third-down tries. Ohio State will mark a hefty step up in talent however, and I don’t think the Lions will have much room.