We finally get a traditional Rose Bowl matchup this year, as the Washington Huskies take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on New Year’s Day on ESPN. This will be the first matchup between the Pac-12 and Big Ten in the Rose Bowl since the College Football Playoffs started. The Huskies come into this game ranked No. 9 in the country, while the Buckeyes are ranked No. 6. Let’s look at this game that can be seen on ESPN and live betting at BookMaker.eu.
The Rose Bowl will take place on Tuesday, January 1, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. ET at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
NCAA Football Betting at BookMaker.eu
Ohio State -6.5, O/U 57
Odds Analysis
The big story is that it will be the last game for Urban Meyer as head coach of the Buckeyes as he said he is retiring from coaching after this game. Ryan Day will take over as head coach after this game. The Buckeyes would have preferred to be in the College Football Playoff, but this is a pretty good consolation. "No disrespect to the other bowl games, because they're awesome, but the Rose is the one we've always looked forward to," Meyer said to the media. This will be the first time Meyer will be coaching in the Rose Bowl and his players want him to go out with a win.
“We’re going to send him out the right way definitely believe that,” Defensive end Chase Young Young said to the media, “We’re just going to make sure that we send him out the right way and make sure that he knows how much we appreciated him as our coach.”
The Huskies come into this game with three losses and really are fortunate just to be in the Rose Bowl. The Huskies are led by quarterback Jake Browning who is the Pac-12's all-time winningest quarterback. Washington also has running back Myles Gaskin who is the third-leading rusher in Pac-12 history.
The Buckeyes are led by quarterback Dwayne Haskins who could end up as the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. He has thrown for 11 TDs and 895 yards in his last two starts. Haskins will be facing a Washington defense that is coming off a dominating performance against Washington State. Ohio State has the No. 2 offense in the country, averaging 548.8 yards per game.
Matchup to Watch
The player who could dominate this game is Haskins. He threw for 4,580 yards and had 47 TDs and only 8 interceptions. The Huskies are going to try and use linebacker Ben Burr-Kivens to shadow Haskins. Burr-Kirven led the Huskies in tackles with 165 and he had four tackles for loss and six passes broken up. The Buckeyes have talented receivers in Parris Campbell and K.J. Hill. Campbell caught 79 passes for 992 yards and 11 touchdowns, while Hill had 67 catches for 831 yards and six touchdowns.
Key Stats
The Pac-12 just continues to lose bowl games on a regular basis. They were 1-8 in bowl games last season and they are off to a poor start again this year. The Huskies are 1-4 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games. The Buckeyes are 13-3-1 ATS in their last 17 vs. the Pac-12. The Buckeyes are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 bowl games.
Looking at the total, the Under is 4-1 in the Huskies last 5 neutral site games. The Under is 7-3 in the Buckeyes last 10 bowl games.
Game Picks
I think Washington is overrated, as they needed bad weather just to get past Washington State and into this game. The Buckeyes have far too much offensive talent for the Huskies and when you throw in the fact that Ohio State is going to want to send Meyer out with a win, I think the clear choice in this game is the Buckeyes.
NCAA Football Odds: Ohio State 34, Washington 20
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