Ohio State Football: Will Buckeyes avoid upset against Minnesota?

Ohio State football tries to avoid an upset against visiting Minnesota. Here’s how to catch the action between the Golden Gophers and Buckeyes early on Sunday.

Ohio State is currently 6-0 at the halfway point of their regular season, and the Buckeyes have won all but one of their games by double digits. Urban Meyer’s team has been sublime offensively and good enough defensively. Now they will put their perfect record to the test against Minnesota on Saturday afternoon at the Horseshoe.

The Buckeyes have a Heisman contender in quarterback Dwayne Haskins. Taking over for veteran starter J.T. Barrett, Haskins has been even better than his predecessor at the position. Haskins has thrown more passing touchdowns (25) than any other quarterback in the country, and he currently rates as the fifth-most efficient passer in the FBS. The defense, on the other hand, gives up only 20 points per game but ranks outside the top 50 nationally in yards allowed.

Minnesota, meanwhile, is looking for their first Big Ten win of the season after opening the year with three straight victories over mid-major competition. The Golden Gophers have fallen to Maryland and Iowa in the past two weeks, and the Buckeyes will prevent an even more difficult test on Saturday.

P.J. Fleck‘s team has played solid defense, giving up 40 fewer yards per game than the Buckeyes to rank in the top 30 nationally. But the Golden Gophers struggle to put points on the board themselves. Working in Minnesota’s favor is the fact that they are among the dozen least-penalized teams in the entire country.

Can Minnesota actually pull off an upset against the No. 3 team in the AP Top 25? Here’s how you can watch the Week 7 game between No. 3 Ohio State and Minnesota:

Date: Saturday, Oct. 13
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Venue: Ohio Stadium
TV: FS1
Live Stream: FOX Sports Go | FuboTV

Keys to Victory

To pull off the massive upset on the road, Minnesota needs everything to fall into place. The Golden Gophers need to live up to their billing as a disciplined team and avoid beating themselves with penalties. Fleck’s squad need to quarterback Zack Annexstad to play the best game of his college career, and the defense needs to force Buckeyes stops so that the top-ranked punt return unit in the country can get a chance to flip field position.

For Ohio State, the Golden Gophers provide more fodder in an October schedule that is unlikely to present many challenges. Dwayne Haskins needs to be his efficient self, Mike Weber and J.K. Dobbins need to have a big game against a Minnesota team that actually ranks a respectable 34th in rushing defense, and the defense needs to hold down a mediocre Gophers offense.

Betting Odds

Odds courtesy of oddsshark.com

Point Spread: Ohio State -29.5
Over/Under: 59.5

Prediction

Ohio State has scored at least 40 points against every opponent except Penn State. And Minnesota simply doesn’t have the level of talent that the Nittany Lions bring to the table. Urban Meyer’s squad will build up an early lead, and the Golden Gophers will fall big on the road. The Buckeyes will beat the spread, and Minnesota will chip in just enough points to go over the total points line.

Final Score: Ohio State 48, Minnesota 17