The Ohio State Buckeyes continue to keep moving forward. They are the lone team in the Big Ten that has looked the part of national title contender through the first three weeks of the college football betting season. Ohio State blasted two Power Five opponents to start the year, and the Buckeyes are fresh off of a convincing win over TCU this last weekend. The Buckeyes will have one more non-conference test before they get back to their Big Ten slate, with the Tulane Green Wave coming to town in Week 4 of the season.
This contest in Week 4 will go down Saturday, September 22, 2018 at 3:30 p.m. ET at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tulane +35
Ohio State -35
Total Check Back Later
Odds Analysis
It’s not a big surprise to see Tulane as a five-touchdown underdog per the CFB betting odds. The Green Wave are still in search of their first win against an FBS opponent this year, and Ohio State has been blasting teams this year. The over/under for this game will come out later on Monday.
Coaching Angle
There’s no longer any sort of delineation with regards to the status of Urban Meyer. Meyer is now back in charge of the Buckeyes, with no further caveats about when he is or isn’t the coach.
Meyer was not with Ohio State on gamedays for each of the first three weeks of the season, but that didn’t slow down the Buckeyes. This is the highest scoring offense in the country, and Dwayne Haskins has looked sharp as a freshman. A big thanks can be paid to offensive coordinator Ryan Day for his role as the acting head coach in Meyer’s absence, but this is a well-oiled machine at this point in Meyer’s tenure.
Through the first three weeks of the season, Haskins has completed 72.5 percent of his passes and is averaging 9.8 yards per attempt. He has thrown just one interception and has not looked phased by anything opposing defenses have thrown at him. Preparation and comfort have been two things the coaching staff has focused on with the young quarterback, and the Buckeyes are likely to keep moving the chains against Tulane.
Matchup to Watch
Tulane’s offense has struggled to get going this season. The Green Wave looked like they may be poised to have a breakout campaign at the start of 2018, but they have not moved the ball as effectively on the ground as they would like.
Head coach Willie Fritz has always preferred to keep the ball on the ground with a modified option offense. Unfortunately, the ground game had a hard time getting things done against both Wake Forest and UAB, leading to increased pressure on Jonathan Banks to move the ball through the air.
While Banks was somewhat up to the task against Wake Forest, going 18-37 for 281 yards with two scores, he simply couldn’t hit his passes against UAB last week. Banks completed under 30 percent of his passes, and while there were some big gains, it’s hard to win with that kind of completion percentage.
Ohio State’s defense has been somewhat iffy this year, so Tulane could take advantage if the Buckeyes are looking too far ahead. The Buckeyes travel to Happy Valley to take on Penn State next week, and that will be their one real test until November.
Free ATS Pick
This would normally be a good spot to play Tulane due to the letdown, lookahead angle. Ohio State is coming off of a big win against TCU, and the Buckeyes will go on the road again to face Penn State next Saturday. However, the return of Meyer means this team will be plenty fired up for this game, and that will lead to a big win for the Buckeyes.
College Football Odds: Ohio State 52, Tulane 10
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