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Before every Ohio State football game, Matt Tamanini will get you ready with all of the information that you need for that day’s game on the “Land-Grant Tailgate” podcast.
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No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes (-1.5) vs. Texas | over/under 46.5
Game Date/Time: Saturday, Aug. 30 at 12 noon ET
Location: Columbus, Ohio
TV: Fox
Radio: 97.1 FM/1460 AM
For months, anytime someone in the national media has talked about this game, the conversation has been about either Arch Manning or how much talent the Buckeyes lost to the NFL following their national championship. Now, both are completely legitimate topics of conversation and analysis, but they do seem to be shorting the defending national champions some of the credit that they deserve.
However, UT lost just as much in the offseason as OSU did. In fact, the Buckeyes return 48% of their production from last season, while Texas brings back 51%. And considering that OSU is tied with Alabama atop this season’s Blue Chip Ratio, it’s not like they are going to be in any sort of talent deficit to Texas (who is fifth in this year’s ratio).
In all fairness, with all of the changes for the Buckeyes, both in terms of on-field personnel and their coaching staff, there is a lot that we don’t yet know about this team. We don’t know how Brian Hartline is going to handle calling plays for the first time. We don’t know what types of changes Matt Patricia will make from Jim Knowles’ No. 1 defense from a season ago. We don’t know how Julian Sayin will look in his first career start, and we don’t know how the completely rebuilt defensive line will look in its first outing.
But what we do know is that this program has traditionally done well when they were counted out. And while Las Vegas and the analytics favor the Buckeyes, it seems like few in the media and the larger college football world do. And with a team full of hungry, talented players, that extra bit of motivation – coupled with a rowdy home crowd – can go a long way. So, while I might be picking primarily on vibes today, I’m going with the home team by double digits.
Matt’s Predictions: Ohio State 31, Texas 20
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Category: General Sports
