Ohio State-Michigan prediction, odds, pick, how to watch College Football
It is “The Game” as Big Ten rivals Ohio State and Michigan collide. It is time to continue our College Football odds series with an Ohio State-Michigan prediction, pick, and how-to watch.
This will be the 119th meeting between Michigan and Ohio State. The first meeting was in 1897 when Michigan beat Ohio State 34-0. Since then, Michigan has 60 wins, while Ohio State has 51, and there have been six ties. There is also one vacated Ohio State win. This will be the 14th time they have both ranked in the top five. That has been the case the last two years, as Michigan has been the lower-ranked team in each of those two teams, and has won both of them.
Ohio State comes into this game ranked second in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. They are currently 11-0 and have dominated in the last three weeks. The offense has come alive, scoring 35 or more in the last three games. Meanwhile, the defense has been solid, not giving up a touchdown since the Rutgers game, and only giving up 22 points in the last three games combined. Still, they have been undefeated coming into the Michigan game the last two years and lost both of them.
Meanwhile, Michigan comes into this game ranked third in the College Football Playoff rankings . They are coming off a struggle though. While they held the lead most of the game, being up 16-3 after the first quarter, Maryland kept it tight. They got the deficit to just five after a touchdown in the third quarter, but Michigan got their second safety of the game in the fourth and would win 31-24.
Here are the college football odds , courtesy of FanDuel.
College Football Odds: Ohio State-Michigan Odds
Ohio State: +3.5 (-112)
Michigan: -3.5 (-108)
Over: 45.5 (-115)
Under: 45.5 (-105)
How to Watch Ohio State vs. Michigan Week 13
Time: Noon ET/ 9:00 AM PT
Stream: fuboTV ( Click for free trial )
Why Ohio State Will Cover The Spread
Kyle McCord comes in as the leader of this Ohio State offense. He has been solid this year, completing 211 of 324 passes for 2,899 yards. He also has 22 passing touchdowns this year, with two or more in each of his last four games. Meanwhile, He has just four interceptions this year, with just 12 turnover-worthy throws. In the last two weeks, he has not had a turnover-worthy throw, or an interception, while throwing five touchdowns. McCord has also been protected well this year, with just ten sacks all year, and no more than two in a single game.
The Ohio State rushing attack this year is led by TreVeyon Henderson. He comes into the game with 794 yards on the year and ten touchdowns. He has been great after contact as well with 481 yards this year. Further, he has forced 25 missed tackles and has 20 runs over ten yards this year. Last time out, he was great. Henderson ran for 146 yards and two scores. In his four games since coming back from injury, he has run over 120 yards in three of them and scored in all four.
Ohio State also has Marvin Harison Jr. He comes into the game with 62 receptions on 105 targets for 1,0933 yards. He has also scored 13 times this year. Harrison has been solid after the catch this year, with 400 yards after the catch. Further, he has brought in 10 of 26 contested balls while having just six drops. The Buckeyes also have tight end Cade Stover. Stover has been highly reliable, catching 84.4 percent of his targets, for 534 yards and five scores.
On defense, Ohio State is ranked third in the nation in total defense, but they are also third in the Big Ten. They are second in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 9.27 points per game, which is just .27 points per game more than first-ranked Michigan. Ohio State's biggest weakness on defense is the run game, where they rank 19th in yards allowed per game. Still, they are the best in the nation against the past.
Why Michigan Will Cover The Spread
The Michigan offense is led by J.J. McCarthy. He has been good this year, completing 175 of 237 passes for 2,335 yards and 18 scores. Still, he has not been great in the last two weeks. Against Penn State, the numbers were not great due to lack of volume, completed seven of eight passes for 60 yards. Last week, McCarthy struggled, completing just 12 of 23 passes for 141 yards with an interception.
The focal point of the offense is the running game. Blake Corum comes into the game with 888 yards on the ground this year, with 20 scores. He has 462 yards after contact this year while forcing 19 missed tackles on the year. Corum comes in off a solid game in which he ran for 94 yards and two touchdowns. He has scored in every game this year while having two or more scores in four of his last five games.
In the receiving game, it is Roman Wilson who leads the way. He comes into the game with 612 yards on 37 receptions. He has brought in over 75 percent of his targets this year and scored ten times. Meanwhile, when Michigan needs to move the chains, Colston Loveland is the target. He has brought in over 72 percent of his targets for 462 yards and four scores this year. Loveland also has 21 receptions that have resulted in a first-time. That means 78.1 percent of his receptions have either been for a first down or a touchdown this year.
Michigan comes in with the top-ranked defense in the nation, while also being the top-scoring defense in the nation. Michigan ranks eighth in the nation against the run, while sitting second in the nation, just behind Ohio State, in passing yards allowed. The pass rush has been solid this year, with 31 sacks on the season. That is led by Jaylen Harrell with five of them. Further, Mike Sainristil has been a ball hawk this year. He has four pass breakups while also coming away with five interceptions. Joining him in the secondary is Will Johnson, who has been amazing, allowing just 12 receptions all year with two interceptions.
Final Ohio State-Michigan Prediction & Pick
This is shaping up to be an amazing game. Kyle McCord has been better as of late, which is needed for Ohio State. Still, most of his stats and good play have been thrown to Marvin Harrison Jr. He will be blanketed by Will Johnson in this game, with some help as well. Combined with the great Michigan run defense, this will slow down the running game. Still, both teams pull out special plays just for this game. Both teams will score. The difference will be Michigan's run game. The worst unit on the field is the Ohio State run defense. Blake Corum will score twice in a Michigan win.
Final Ohio State-Michigan Prediction & Pick: Michigan -3.5 (-108) and Over 45.5 (-105)
