For the fourth consecutive week, the Buckeyes are double-digit favorites at home. More:
It is daunting to imagine laying the better part of three touchdowns against a team that received AP Top 25 poll votes this week. It scrambles the brain even further when you consider that this is the projected Big Ten Championship Game matchup and that Wisconsin led the nation in defense a season ago. However, this is the price of doing business if you want to play on one of the nation’s best teams, and this time around, it feels like a good buy.
Just last week Ohio State closed as 31-point favorites against Toledo. The Rockets could end up in the MAC Championship Game with a defense that will finish the season atop the conference. And yet, Ohio State sent their in-state rivals home with a 77-21 defeat, a game in which the Buckeyes piled up 763 yards of offense and scored touchdowns on 11 of their first 12 possessions.Ohio State was the nation’s top scoring offense last season and looks capable of being even more dangerous this season.
All of this has happened without Ohio State yet to hit its full stride offensively, a scary proposition for Wisconsin. The Buckeyes have played most of this season without the full services of elite receivers Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Julian Fleming. Meanwhile, three other Ohio State wideouts have already posted 100-yard games with four receivers combining for 11 touchdowns.
Wisconsin’s defense remains tough, but it has certainly taken a step back from what was the nation’s best unit last season. The Badgers have played a weak schedule thus far, yet still managed to drop a game at home to Washington State. They have dominated time of possession to shrink games, a luxury they won’t likely enjoy against Ohio State, especially if forced to chase the game.
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