Week 8 Minnesota Golden Gophers @ Ohio State Buckeyes
Date: Saturday October 24, 12:00 PM EST
Site: Columbus, Ohio
BetUS LINE: Ohio State -17.5
Preview
Ohio State hopes to put last week’s 26-18 loss to then 1-4 Purdue and dashed National Championship hopes aside when they take on Minnesota.
CLICK HERE FOR THE BEST CFB WEEK 8 GAMBLING PICKS FROM OUR TOP CAPPERS! —>
Ohio State’s defence was one of the best in the country in its first six games, and were holding things together while the offense tried to find form. Then came the game against Purdue, a team with the eighth-ranked defense in the conference and five straight losses. Not only did Ohio State lose, they flat out got dominated – turn Purdue’s two red-zone field goals into majors and that game isn’t even close.
The problem with Ohio State starts under center. Don’t get me wrong, Terrelle Pryor is a fantastic athlete, but he just doesn’t seem to have the mental part of the position down. I don’t think he has looked off a receiver in his two years in Columbus. The offensive line also has problems, they seem to be getting pushed around a lot lately. That spells disaster when you have a QB who makes bad decisions under pressure. But a visit from the Gophers and their 92nd-ranked D may just be the remedy for this Buckeye attack. 
Against the Gophers, who only average 1.7 sacks per game, Pryor hopes to create some much-needed chemistry with his receivers. Equally disturbing has been the fact that there hasn’t been a stand-out running back this year. Brandon Saine and Dan Herron have been carrying the load, but neither seems to have definitively claimed the starting job. All of these problems have a chance to be impoved against a poor Gopher defense.
For Minnesota, they hope they can exploit the weaknesses Purdue found last weekend, and wideout Eric Decker will be just the person to do that. OSU looked lost defending the short passing game against the Boilermakers. Adam Weber will try to emulate Purdue pivot Joey Elliott’s performance last week, but Weber’s production this year has been less than stellar (6 TDs, 9 INTs). His poor numbers can be attributed to the lack of depth behind Decker, because after Decker’s 731 yards, the next highest total is 216. Basically, Decker and Weber will need to have their best games in order to even have a shot at this game. I doubt that will happen.
Basically OSU got embarrassed last week and Minnesota will feel the wrath on Saturday. Defense will dominate this game, and look for a different offense this week as the Bucks prepare for Penn State down the road. This game has all the ingredients of a blowout.
2009 Team Stats – Total Offence: Ohio State-91st, Minnesota-114th
Total Defense: Ohio State-16th, Minnesota-92nd
Spread/Trends
2009: Ohio State ATS: 5-2
Minnesota ATS: 3-4
O/U: Ohio State:1-4-1
Minnesota:4-3
– Minnesota is 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games on the road.
– The road team is 7-3 ATS in the last 10 meetings.
Minnesota vs. Ohio St. Free Pick: Ohio State -17.5
We stand behind one of our top NFL Sportsbooks – MYSportsbook.com – Sign Up For A Free Account Today, and know that they have ONE OF THE Best CREDIT CARD ACCEPTANCE rates in the industry.
Adam Slozar is a CFB Junkie and regular contributor to the Cappers Picks Blog. He also hails from the Great White North but don’t hold that against him. Adam wants to hear from you so please comment below.
