Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes Betting Pick

Betting Odds

Opening Line: Ohio State -3
Over/Under: 57.5

Time: 8 PM EST Saturday October 6, 2012 on ABC

Ohio State (5-0) will not go bowling this season since they are under suspension, but they are still a solid team that beat a ranked Michigan State squad last week. Nebraska is back in the top 25 after their big win over Wisconsin last week and they have won 3 straight since being upset by UCLA in their 2nd game of the season. Ohio State stuffed the run last week against MSU and their run D is key in this game facing Nebraska and their 5th ranked rushing offense.

In their last games Ohio State beat Michigan State 17-16 and Nebraska beat Wisconsin 30-27.

Nebraska is 3-2 ATS with an O/U record of 3-1 and Ohio State is 2-3 ATS with an O/U record of 2-3.

OSU held MSU to only 34 yards on the ground last week and how will they fare facing Nebraska, who is averaging over 300 rushing yards per game? Leading rusher Ameer Abdullah has not had big games in the last 2 outings, but in each game he averaged over 6 yards per carry. 2nd leading rusher QB Taylor Martinez is a great duel threat QB and after suffering an injury early in the season RB Rex Burkhead has rushed for over 200 yards in his last 2 games.

Martinez can air it out and he has 1,059 passing yards with 11 TD and WR Kenny Bell (15 rec 330 yards 4 TD) is a big play WR that is averaging 22 yards per reception. The Huskers may want to go to the air more in this game, as while their run defense is solid their pass defense only ranks 94th in the nation.

The Huskers’ defense has one goal in this game and that is to contain QB Braxton Miller (933 yards 8 TD 3 INT), as he is also the leading rusher with 577 yards on the ground with 7 TD. MSU could not contain him, as he passed for 179 yards with 1 TD and he rushed for 136 yards. He has 2 receivers that have over 300 receiving yards and he has a solid line in front of him.

Nebraska has a better pass defense, ranked 27th, than run defense, which is ranked 62nd and that is not a good match up for them in this game since the strength of the Ohio State offense is their rushing attack. However, they held Wisconsin to only 56 yards on the ground last week.

Last season at Nebraska the Huskers beat the Buckeyes 34-27.

Nebraska is 0-3-1 ATS in their last 4 road games, 1-4-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record, and they have an Under record of 5-2 in their last 7 Big 10 games.

Ohio State is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games overall, 1-6 ATS in their last 7 home games, and they have an Under record of 9-3 in Buckeyes last 12 vs. a team with a winning record.

ATS Game Pick

The Cornhuskers have allowed 20 or fewer points in three of their five games this season and the Buckeyes have 16 or fewer in all but one of their games this season. We expect this game to keep with the trend and easily fall under the posted total.
Take the Under 57.5