Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that
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The top-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes have been really freaking good this season. To be honest, they have been as close to perfect as I think we have seen a team be in quite a while. However, there are some things that need some work, primarily on offense.
So, for this week’s fan survey, we asked Buckeye Nation what was one tweak they wanted to see Ryan Day and Brian Hartline implement. Nothing major, like never running the ball or going to a triple option, but some things (with varying levels of actual possibility of happening) that would make the extremely efficient and effective offense even bettwe.
And since it is a game week, we also asked fans for their winner and margin of victory predictions for today’s game.
Today, we have those results. So, check them out below (along with my thoughts and feelings), and if the answers that your fellow fans put forth don’t jive with how you see things, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of the page. Also, if you feel confident about your score prediction, put some money where your mouth is, over at FanDuel Sportsbook, as they are the sponsor for today’s article.
Question 1: If Ohio State added one unexpected offensive wrinkle for the stretch run and postseason, what would you like it to be?
To me, not only is this the correct answer, but I also think that it is in the process of happening. Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe that the Buckeyes are suddenly going to be snapping the ball every 12 seconds over the final four games of the regular season, but we have seen them go with tempo a handful of times early in the games against Wisconsin and Penn State.
That would seem to indicate that Ryan Day wants the Buckeyes to be ready to do that in the postseason, which begins in Ann Arbor on Saturday, Nov. 29. On his radio show this week, Day said that when the time was right, the Buckeyes would “turn up the gas.”
While I don’t believe the time is right just yet, I think that Day wants to rev the engine a little bit between now and The Game in order to go pedal-to-the-metal in the regular season finale.
Question 2: What will the margin of victory be in Saturday’s game against Purdue?
When the FanDuel Sportsbook opened its betting for this game, Ohio State was installed as a 20.5-point favorite, but it has gone up in the days since, and as of the writing of this article, it sits at 29.5. The gold standard college football analytics system, SP+, has it as a 40-11 game in favor of the Buckeyes, which is almost exactly on the line.
Earlier in the week, I told our friends over at Purdue site Hammer and Rails that I was going 42-0, and that is what I went with on this morning’s “Land-Grant Tailgate Podcast” and in LGHL’s official predictions article. So, I guess I would be in that 36-42 point range with 23% of the Buckeye respondents.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. Visit FanDuel Sportsbook for all of your college football betting needs.
