NCAAF: BETTORS LOVE THE TROJANS
The USC Trojans opened up as 9.5 point favorites over the Ohio State Buckeyes this Saturday night, but that didn’t dissuade Trojan backers in the least.
This an 8 pm ET game on ABC and 80% of the betting action has gone on home USC,causing the spread to jump to 11.5 points. That lack of respect has former coach Woody Hayes rolling over in his grave, but perhaps it’s not too unjustified.
USC has made a habit out of mopping up the floor with Big Ten opponents. Last year, it was an upstart Illinois team that came into the Rose Bowl thinking upset. They left with a 49-17 thrashing.
Two years ago, Michigan came to Southern California for the Rose Bowl and lost 32-18 even after a garbage touchdown with just over a minute to go.
Ohio State has also blown through their Big Ten competition the last two years (a perfect 16-0), but has been humiliated in the last two national title games by SEC foes. The knock on the Buckeyes now is they can’t match up with the fastest teams in the country, and USC is certainly in that category.
The big story surrounding this game is the status of OSU running back Chris ‘Beanie’ Wells. Wells has the size, strength and speed to put up yards against any defense in the country, but he is now listed as doubtful to play with a toe injury.
Wells’ situation needs to be monitored all the way until game time as his status will effect numerous betting options for this game.
Some of those betting options include the numerous propositions set up for this game at Sportsbook.com. For example, Ohio State quarterback Todd Boeckman has an Over/Under for passing yards at 195.5.
Boeckman threw for 187 yards in an opening week win against Youngstown State. Last week against Ohio, he threw for just 110 as the team struggled without Wells in the lineup, winning just 26-14.
If Wells doesn’t play, Ohio State will be forced to throw the ball more as they will be hard pressed to match a USC offense that put up 52 points at Virginia on August 30th.
USC looks like an absolute monster early on and their #1 ranking in the country reflects that. In addition to scoring 52 points at Virginia, they only surrendered seven, and most believe that their “D” is the stronger side of the ball.
Quarterback Mark Sanchez is the latest blue chipper to take the reigns of the quarterback position. All he did is throw for 338 yards against Virginia on 26-35 passing. Sportsbook.com has a prop for pass attempts for Sanchez this week and the Over/Under is 32.5.
Coach Pete Carroll is not about to go conservative in this game, and they could throw early and often to jump on OSU and try to damage their confidence.
Finally, our Primetime Props special for this game is an intriguing one. If OSU wide receiver, Brian Hartline scores the first touchdown of this contest, all losing Player to Score 1st TD props will be refunded on this specific game.
