Ohio State Buckeyes at Indiana Hoosiers Betting Preview
Saturday evening features a Big Ten showdown as the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes (5-1) take on the Indiana Hoosiers (2-4). The Hoosiers will host this one at Memorial Stadium, with kickoff scheduled for 7:30 pm ET.
After dropping their lone loss of the season back in Week 2 to No. 10 Oregon, the Buckeyes have now rattled off four wins in a row, including a 66-17 routing of Maryland two weeks ago. In the win, C.J. Stroud threw for 406 yards and five touchdowns, while TreVeyon Henderson rushed for 102 yards and another two scores.
Indiana is certainly in the midst of their roughest part of the schedule as Ohio State will be the third top-ten team they have faced in the last three weeks. Last week, they dropped a heartbreaker to No. 9 Michigan State, 20-15. In the loss, Jack Tuttle struggled as he threw for just 188 yards and two interceptions despite throwing the ball 52 times.
Ohio State is a heavy favorite in this one despite playing on the road. They are -1600 to win while the Hoosiers’ moneyline sits at +820. The spread features Indiana +21.5 (-118), and the over/under for total points is 58.5.
More Odds
The Buckeyes are currently the favorites to win the Big Ten Championship at -190. The Hoosiers are tied for the worst odds at +100000.
In terms of the National Championship, Ohio State has the third-best odds to win it all at +700.
By The Numbers
It is not shocking that Ohio State is an overwhelming favorite in this one. They have been unbeaten against Indiana in their last 11 games, and they are 11-0 in their last 11 road games.
In their last seven games, Indiana is 2-5 straight up, and they are just 1-6 against the spread.
Buckeyes Trying To Stay Perfect In Big Ten East
Entering play on Saturday, the Buckeyes are technically tied for second in the Big Ten East; however, that is only because they have played one less conference game than Michigan State. Trying to keep pace, though, the Buckeyes will look to take down Indiana on the road.
Leading Ohio State under center is C.J. Stroud. The freshman quarterback has thrown for 1,699 yards, 18 touchdowns, and just three interceptions thus far this season.
His leading receivers to date include Garrett Wilson (31 receptions, 546 yards, six touchdowns), Chris Olave (30 receptions, 494 yards, seven touchdowns), and Jaxon Smith-Njigba (23 receptions, 452 yards, three touchdowns).
On the ground, the leading rusher is Treveyon Henderson. He has 612 yards rushing in 70 attempts (8.7 yards per carry) with nine touchdowns.
Ohio State ranks 26th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 20.5 points per game to opponents.
Banged Up Browns Look For Home Win
At 2-4 overall and 0-3 in the conference, it has been a rough start to the season for Indiana head coach Tom Allen and his team. As they welcome the No. 5 ranked Buckeyes to town Saturday, his rough start might only get worse.
Still, after last week’s five-point loss to the Spartans, there was some reason for optimism. In fact, in the last two weeks, they have held two top-ten teams to an average of just 22 points per game. They currently rank 82nd in scoring defense, allowing 29.4 points per game.
With Michael Penix Jr. still recovering from his separated shoulder injury, the Hoosiers will likely turn to Jack Tuttle again in this one. On the season, Tuttle has thrown for 356 yards, one touchdown, and three interceptions.
On the ground, Stephen Carr leads the way with 121 rushes for 439 yards and four touchdowns.
Take Ohio State To Win And Cover
Especially with the Hoosiers having to turn to Tuttle again this week, it is just hard to imagine a scenario where they can keep up with Ohio State.
Granted, they did play Michigan State tough last week, and the Buckeyes could get caught looking ahead to their matchup next weekend with Penn State, but with two weeks off to prepare, this seems like a very gloomy situation for the Hoosiers.
Take Ohio State to both win and cover the massive 21.5-point spread.
