Ohio State minus 10 1/2 at Wisconsin
Ohio State is going for its 20th straight true road game win, which is the longest active streak in the nation. It’s an impressive feat and I see it holding up against Wisconsin.
The Badgers are well-coached, had a bye last week and are strong again defensively. I greatly respect their home field, too. But their offense is too weak to keep up with the Buckeyes. Alex Hornibrook is another in a long line of below average Wisconsin quarterbacks. The Badgers have had only one outstanding quarterback during the last 50 years and that was Russell Wilson, and he only played one year for Wisconsin.
Wisconsin, though, has had many great running backs. The Badgers’ ground attack isn’t up to previous standards this year, however. Corey Clement has failed to carry the Badgers’ tradition of Heisman Trophy caliber tailbacks. Michigan held the Badgers to 2.5 yards per attempt on the ground in winning, 14-7, two weeks ago. Ohio State’s defense is even better holding opponents to 10.8 points per game. The Buckeyes have yet to allow a touchdown on the ground.
The line should be higher as in my view it’s still not fully reflecting the class difference between these two teams. Ohio State doesn’t just win, but dominates winning by an average of 43 points. The Buckeyes may have been caught looking ahead to this challenge because they only defeated Indiana by 21 points last week in their worst performance. And Indiana has been decent this year.
Things could get ugly for the Badgers, who have no backdoor capability with their lack of a passing attack as Ohio State is averaging two interceptions per game. The Buckeyes have far more talent at the skill positions especially at quarterback with J.T. Barrett.
The Buckeyes also have owned this series recently covering all but one of the last eight games.
