The Nebraska Cornhuskers were one of the biggest proponents of bringing back Big Ten football in 2020, and their reward? A date at the Horseshoe with the Ohio State Buckeyes to open their college football season.
The Buckeyes are the betting favorites to win their fourth straight Big Ten title, while when it came to wagering the Cornhuskers last season, your best bet was to fade them all day, everyday.
Let’s take a look at our best college football predictions for Nebraska at Ohio State, scheduled for Saturday, October 23 at 12:00 ET.
Nebraska Cornhuskers vs Ohio State Buckeyes betting preview
Weather
It will be a cool afternoon in Columbus for this Big Ten battle. Temperatures will be hovering around the 50-mark for this game with a 10 mile-per-hour wind blowing towards the southern endzone. Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key Injuries
Nebraska: Alante Brown WR (Probable), Omar Manning WR (Questionable), Wan'dale Robinson WR (Questionable).
Ohio State: Haskell Garrett DT (Questionable), Marcus Crowley RB (Questionable), Master Teague III RB (Questionable), Kourt Williams S (Out).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting Trend to Know
Fade Nebraska was one of the best betting trends going in college football last season. Nebraska is a very publicly-bet team that was expected to make a jump and didn’t. As a result, the Cornhuskers couldn’t hit inflated lines, going 3-9 ATS. Find more NCAA football betting trends for Nebraska vs. Ohio State.
Against the spread (ATS) pick
The Scott Frost era was supposed to be a time of big change in Nebraska, but the Cornhuskers are just 9-15 and 6-12 in conference play in Frost’s first two years at the helm. Adrian Martinez struggled as a sophomore, and the Big Ten didn’t do Nebraska any favors by scheduling a road date with Ohio State to open the season.
The Buckeyes didn’t skip a beat with Ryan Day taking over for Urban Meyer last year. Ohio State had a dominant year, going 13-0 SU (9-4 ATS) grabbing their third-consecutive Big Ten title and a College Football Playoff berth, and if not for a J.K. Dobbins injury, the Buckeyes likely would have wound up in the National Championship.
Dobbins and Chase Young have moved on to the NFL, but Ohio State is returning a ton of talent this year, starting first and foremost with Heisman contender and quarterback Justin Fields. The junior is coming off his first full year as a starter and all he did was throw for 2,953 yards, completing 67.5 percent of his passes for 40 touchdowns and just one pick. He then added nearly 500 yards and 10 more scores on the ground.
Dobbins and Young leave some big shoes to fill, but the Buckeyes will turn to Master Teague III and Oklahoma transfer Trey Sermon in the backfield, while Zach Harrison looks like the next in the long line of dominant Buckeyes’ pass rushers.
The Ohio State O-line should be able to create big holes against a suspect Nebraska defense, while the D-line will terrorize Martinez all game long. It’s championship or bust for the Buckeyes in 2020 and they’re out for blood after the tough loss to Clemson in the CFP, meaning we get to use our favorite phrase from last year – Fade Nebraska.
PREDICTION: Ohio State -26.5 (-110)
Over/Under pick
Adrian Martinez was a dark horse Heisman candidate heading into 2019, but that quickly evaporated once the season began. Martinez struggled for most of the year, completing less than 60 percent of his passes for 1,956 yards with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. He did add 626 yards and seven scores on the ground, but he had all sorts of problems with Ohio State in last year’s 48-7 loss. In that game, he went 8-17 for 47 yards and three picks. While he did rush for 81 yards, he seemed to be running for his life more often than not.
Now, there's no way the Buckeye defense will be as good as it was last season, that’s just what happens when seven players on that side of the ball got drafted to the NFL, including Young and Jeff Okudah. But that doesn’t mean this unit won’t be good. The D-line - while it doesn’t have a Young, will be solid, and so should the linebacking core. It’s the secondary that will need to prove the most with three starters gone.
That said, I’ll have to see it to believe it from the Nebraska offense. Ohio State should do its fair share of scoring, but the Cornhuskers might not do their part.
PREDICTION: Under 66.5 (-110)
First-half Spread Pick
Not many teams got off to better starts in games last season than Ohio State. The Buckeyes ranked second in the nation when it came to first-half scoring, putting up an average 27.4 points per contest last season, and with Fields returning with a studly cast of receivers this season, there’s no reason to think that won’t continue.
At the same time, the Buckeyes were fourth when it came to first-half points allowed, limiting opponents to just 6.4 per game. Some quick math tells me that's a 21-point differential in the first half. Take Ohio State to cover the first-half spread.
PREDICTION: First half Ohio State -14.5 (-110)
Nebraska vs Ohio State betting card
- Ohio State -26.5 (-110)
- Under 66.5 (-110)
- First half Ohio State -14.5 (-110)
Did you know that if you parlayed today’s NCAA Nebraska vs. Ohio State picks, you could win $58.59 on a $10 bet?
Use our NCAA parlay calculator to create your own parlays and see their potential payouts.
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