The Ohio State Buckeyes avenged a regular season loss to Oregon by whacking the Ducks 41-21 earning a spot in the CFP semifinals in the Cotton Bowl against the Texas Longhorns. It wasn’t planned this way but the Horns have a distinct homefield advantage with the game being played at ATT Stadium in Arlington, about 200 miles from UT’s campus in Austin. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET on Friday, January 10 on ESPN. It’s hard to argue that the Buckeyes aren’t the hottest team in the playoff after amassing 500 total yards against Oregon and recording eight sacks in a dominating performance against the No. 1 seed. It will take winning a national championship for the OSU faithful to get over a fourth straight loss to Michigan, but the Buckeyes are on their way and a 6-point favorite at the Bitcoin Sportsbook to advance to the title game.
College Football Betting Lines
Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State Betting Lines
Ohio State Buckeyes -6 / ML -225
Texas Longhorns +6 / ML +194
Over / Under 53
It’s been a good playoff for Will Howard, who has overcome a disappointing performance in the 13-10 loss to Michigan in the regular season finale. He was just 19 of 33 for 175 yards and two picks in that game. He found a groove and Jeremiah Smith in the first round win over Tennessee. Howard was 24 of 29 for 311 yards and with a pair of scoring strikes to Smith. Treveyon Henderson also scored a pair of TDs while rushing for 80 yards on 10 carries. The Buckeyes offense, which was non-existent against UM, amassed 473 yards in the 42-17 win.
It wasn’t the offensive season we’ve become accustomed to seeing from the Buckeyes. They rank 27th in total offense averaging 432.5 yards, but the group continued its run against Oregon. Howard was 17 of 26 for 319 yards, the first time this season he had back-to-back 300-yard passing games. All three of his TD passes came in the first half as the Buckeyes built a 34-8 lead at the break. And Smith had another big game with seven receptions for 187 yards and two more TDs.
The offensive breakthrough overshadowed what OSU did on defense in two playoff games. The Buckeyes held Tennessee to just 256 total yards and recorded four sacks. They were all over Dillon Gabriel in the quarterfinal game sacking him eight times. The sack yardage helped the Buckeyes limit the Ducks to minus-23 yards rushing. Those were two impressive games against a pair of explosive offenses. Texas ranks right up there with teams that can score and move the football giving the OSU defense another challenge.
For the Horns to pull off the upset they’ll need to have more consistency on offense. The ground game has produced sporadic results and faltered in the final regular season game and the SEC Championship when they scored fewer than 20 points in each game. They managed just 53 yards on 30 carries against Arizona State in the quarterfinal game but got bailed out by Quinn Ewers and a defense that had long stretches of dominant play. Ewers threw for 322 yards and three TDs in the 38-31 overtime win.
Much like their opponent the Horns have relied on a stifling defense to win 13 games. They rank third nationally in yards allowed, behind Ohio State and Indiana. The Horns are also among the top 5 against the pass and in fewest points allowed. You don’t often see Ohio State get bullied up front, but that’s what Michigan did to pull off the upset in Week 14. And Texas has the horses on both lines to pull it off.
Texas failed to cover the spread against ASU and is just 3-5 ATS in its last eight games. The Horns allowed a season-high 31 points to the Sun Devils and they’ve given up 55 points in two playoff games, which is a bit concerning. During his time at Kansas State Howard failed to beat the Longhorns in three starts. “Definitely excited to get another chance at these guys,” he said.
Cotton Bowl: Texas vs. Ohio State Same Game Parlay Picks
Ohio State -6
Ohio State / Texas UNDER 53
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