NCAAF: OHIO STATE BACK IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The Ohio State Buckeyes were irrelevant to the national title scene just a few weeks ago, but they’re not anymore.
OSU has moved up to 9th in the BCS Standings after blowing out Michigan State, 45-7 on their own turf. They have now reeled off five straight wins after being embarrassed by USC back on September 13th.
The Buckeyes are the host of a great game this week against the 3rd ranked, and undefeated, Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State is an early two-point favorite for this ABC nationally televised contest. This is just one of the Week 9 early lines you can find at Sportsbook.com.
Ohio State is a different team than the one that lost to USC. Freshman Terrelle Pryor is the starter now and he’s a dual threat to run and throw from the quarterback position. Combine that with a healthy Beanie Wells at running back and defenses have a lot more to worry about.
The Buckeyes defense has also stepped up the last two weeks, giving up 10 total points to Purdue and Michigan State.
Penn State could easily find themselves in the national title game if they win out and this is by far their toughest test left. Joe Paterno’s club struggled in the first half against Michigan last week, and they must play more consistent to come out of Columbus with a victory.
Texas is the number one team in the nation in the first released BCS Standings. The Longhorns have played tremendous football the last two weeks in beating highly ranked Oklahoma and Missouri.
Things don’t get much easier as they host #6 Oklahoma State as big 13-point favorites. Oklahoma State is undefeated at 7-0 and they already stunned Missouri on the road this year.
Unlike most Big 12 teams, Oklahoma State has a tremendous running attack, ranked 5th in the country at 283 yards per game. Something has to give as they’ll be going against the second best rushing defense in the land, allowing just 48 YPG .
The other Top 25 matchup coming from the Big 12 is #8 Texas Tech (+2) at #23 Kansas. Kansas is coming off a loss at Oklahoma, but they held their own for a lot of that game even though they got carved up by Sooners quarterback Sam Bradford (468 passing yards, three touchdowns).
Texas Tech is undefeated and has the top passing attack in the country. However, this is their toughest game of the year so far, and they’re questions about their defense. That’s a big reason they’re small dogs.
The SEC game of the week is #7 Georgia (+2.5) at #13 LSU. Each team has one loss and has a chance to win their division, so this is a crucial game for both sides. It’s also a battle of two great running backs, Knowshon Moreno for Georgia and Charles Scott for LSU.
Thursday night has a good non-conference battle with Auburn (+3.5) at West Virginia. Both were Top 10 teams in the preseason rankings but have struggled some since. Auburn fired their offensive coordinator, Tony Franklin before their last game against Arkansas, but they still lost 25-22.
WVU has three straight wins after losing to East Carolina and Colorado, and they’re very much alive in the Big East title chase, but a lot of that is due to a very weak conference.
