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Wisconsin v. Ohio State Football Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd on October 2, 2008

The Ohio State Buckeyes head to Madison, Wisconsin to take on the Wisconsin Badgers in a game that could be crucial in determining the Big Ten Conference champ. Ohio State has won back-to-back games since getting throttled by the USC Trojans and that has odds makers making the Buckeyes the slight 1.5-point road favorite with the total set at 44.5. This line has many thinking that this could be the best matchup of the weekend.

The No. 18 ranked Wisconsin Badgers know they should be 4-0 heading into this game. They led 19-0 at halftime against Michigan last week before falling flat on their faces in the second half to lose 27-25. Wisconsin knows it needs to win this week with an explosive Penn State team set to enter Madison next week. History tells us that the Badgers will have their work cut out for themselves. Ohio State has dominated this series at 51-17-5 all-time and holds a 23-10-2 mark in Madison.

As I already mentioned, the Buckeyes are coming off a pair of wins following the embarrassing loss to USC. The Buckeyes opened Big Ten Conference play last week with a 34-21 win over Minnesota which was not as close as the final score would indicate.

Ohio State will benefit from having running back Chris “Beanie” Wells on the field. He racked up 106 yards on just 14 carries last week and will likely get his number called even more in this contest. The Buckeyes have decided to go with freshman phenom Terrelle Pryor at QB for most of the action. He rushed for 97 yards and a pair of scores last week while throwing for 70 more yards and a touchdown. Fellow QB Todd Boeckman was 5 of 9 for 65 yards and a score.

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The Badgers will have their hands full with Pryor, who leads the team with 292 yards this season while averaging 6.2 yards per carry. While their seems to be room for improvement in his passing game the number say otherwise. He has completed 63 percent of his tosses.

Ohio State’s defense was expected to be its strong suit and it has been outside of the USC game. The Buckeyes limited Minnesota to 268 yards last weekend, holding them to just 81 on the ground. Opponents are scoring only 16 points per game against the Buckeyes this season. The Buckeyes are surrendering fewer than 100 rushing ypg and have yielded only two rushing scores in five outings. That could spell bad news for the run-dominant Badgers offense. Keep a lookout for star linebacker James Laurinaitis who has registered 47 tackles thus far, 17 more than his closest teammate.

The Badgers tallied 19 first half points against Michigan last week, but it had to settle for field goals four times. Not being able to finish off drives with touchdowns came back to haunt them and it almost certainly will again this week if the Badgers aren’t able to do a better job in its opponent’s end.

Running back P.J. Hill leads the way for the Badgers with 449 yards and four touchdowns. He is a load and will have a successful season in the Big Ten, but Ohio State traditionally dominates run-oriented schemes. It took Illinois opening up the playbook and throwing the football to beat Ohio State last year and it will take the same for the Badgers to win here. However, I’m not sure that first-year starter Allan Evridge will be up to the task. I don’t think the Buckeyes will blow the Badgers out of the water, but I like them to win a close game because they will be better on defense and more effective at running the football. Bet Ohio State to cover the spread at Sportsbook.com.

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