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Minnesota at Ohio State Football Picks & Predictions

Written September 23, 2008 by Jack Jones

Ohio State will start their run for a fourth straight Big Ten title this Saturday when the Buckeyes play host to the Golden Gophers of Minnesota. It doesn’t seem like the experts are giving Minnesota much of a chance to stay with the Buckeyes though, as BetUS has opened up Ohio State as 17.5 point favorites with their early line on the game. Make sure you look at our free football picks to see if any of our handicappers have a play posted on this game.

The reason the college football odds are so high on this game may be due to the fact that Chris “Beanie” Wells is expected to be in the backfield for this game after missing the last three due to injury. After rushing for 1,609 yards and 15 touchdowns as a sophomore, Wells was supposed to lead the offense this season. He was supposed to be a front runner for the Heisman Trophy, but with so much time missed that is fairly doubtful at this point. He started the season with 111 yards and a score on only 13 carries in the rout of Youngstown State, despite leaving in the third quarter with the foot injury that has forced him out of action since.

Without Wells the team has sputtered in moving the ball, especially against top-ranked USC. The Buckeye offense is only averaging 262.7 ypg over their last three games. There is a lot of season left to play though and the Buckeyes aren’t sitting too bad at 3-1.

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The other bright spot for the Buckeye offense is the play of Terrelle Pryor. The freshamn got his first start under center last week, becoming the first freshman to start at quarterback for the Buckeyes since Art Schlichter in 1978. He made the most of his opportunity, going 10-for-16 for 139 yards, but with four scores to only one interception in a 28-10 win. The youngster can also make plays happen with his feet and last week he had 14 totes for 66 yards.

Ohio State has simply dominated the Big Ten conference over the last three years, going 22-2 during that span. Minnesota hasn’t beaten the Buckeyes since 2000, and they will have to overcome their 3-20 record at Ohio Stadium to post a victory here. Anytime you visit Columbus it’s a daunting task, as the Buckeyes have won 21 of their last 22 in front of the home crowd. If you want to bet on Ohio State take the -17.5 point spread at BetUS and get up to 135% in signup bonuses.

Minnesota though is probably better than most people realize. Last year was the first year for head coach Tim Brewster and things did not go so well with the Gophers ending the year at 1-11. This year though things have been different, as the team stands at 4-0 heading into conference play.

Defensively the team has gone from giving up 518.7 yards per game to only 354.8. A lot of that success has to be attributed to Ted Roof, who came over as the new defensive coordinator after being fired as Duke’s head coach following last season.

Another big reason for the team’s success has been the turnover margin. Roof’s guys have been opportunistic and aggressive in forcing 13 turnovers this year, which is a big increase over the 14 they had in 12 games a year ago. The offense is protecting the ball, giving it up only two times in four games.

The offense is led by quarterback Adam Weber. He has passed for 967 yards and seven touchdowns while only being picked off once. Making things easy on him has been Eric Decker, who leads the conference with 32 receptions and 454 receiving yards while grabbing four of Weber’s touchdown passes. Bet the Minnesota +17.5 point spread at BetUS where you can deposit easily with your debit or credit card!

Football Score Predictions: Ohio State 31, Minnesota 14

Check back this week for more college football picks from our expert handicappers. They will help you win more this weekend with your football betting.

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