UCF vs Ohio St. Odds & Prediction
When Central Florida and Ohio State meet this Saturday, it will be a unique matchup between two teams who are both ineligible for the postseason this year. The Knights are a team that many have their eye on as being a team to watch in 2012.
UCF Knights vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Ohio Stadium, Columbus Ohio
Saturday September 8, 12:00 PM EST on ESPN2
College Football Betting Odds from Bovada
Moneyline: Off
College Football Spread: Ohio State -18 (-110) vs. UCF +18 (-110)
Over/Under: 50.5
Ohio State has Urban Meyer on the sidelines, and the Buckeyes fan base is fired up for the season ahead. Let’s take a look at this battle in the Horseshoe.
UCF
Phil Steele is a highly respected college football guru. Steele said in his preseason magazine that he believes Central Florida should be favored in every single game they play this year except for the one this weekend in Columbus. Steele believes UCF will finish the season as a top 20 ranked team.
Blake Bortles won the quarterback battle this offseason over Blaine Gabbert’s younger brother.
Bortles is really asked to manage the game inside this offense, because the strength of this team is the running game.
Latavius Murray will miss this game due to injury, but Storm Johnson and Brynn Harvey are very good running backs. Both of them would start for most teams all across the nation. It will be up to the Knights to keep the Ohio State defense honest in this one with the pass. A one-dimensional rushing attack probably won’t work against this good of a defense. Central Florida’s defense is led by Troy Davis and Victor Gray on the defensive line.
One of the main reasons this team is expected to do so much this year is because of their overall team speed on defense. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Ohio State
After the first quarter last week Ohio State was trailing 3-0. The Buckeyes were giving up far too many passing yards against Miami, and the offense was looking out of sync. Ohio State kicked it in high gear the rest of the game to finish with a 56-10 win.
After a slow start, the Buckeyes rolled up 538 yards of total offense in that game. They has 294 yards on the ground.
Braxton Miller is the main man for the Buckeyes offense this year. Miller showed flashes of brilliance as a freshman, but the team needs more from him in his sophomore season. He is the perfect quarterback for an Urban Meyer system. Miller led the team with 161 rushing yards last week.
Carlos Hyde is the starting running back for now, while Jordan Hall is out with injury. Devin Smith made the best play of the week with his one-handed touchdown grab in the second quarter, and that play helped spark the Buckeyes.
The real strength of this Ohio State team is their defense. The defensive line is one of the best in the nation. Johnathan Hankins is a beast in the middle of the line, and the NFL scouts love his combination of size and speed. John Simon is one of the best pass rushers in the nation, and his motor is amazing.
The Buckeyes offense doesn’t have much of a passing game yet, so I don’t think they will score too many here. On the other side, UCF is unlikely to run for a bunch of yards against this very strong defensive front. Look for a lower scoring game than most expect.
Free College Football Pick: Under 50.5
