Should Ohio State be worried about an upset at Washington? CFB experts weigh in with near-unanimous projections
Expectations are for the Ohio State Buckeyes to play a tight game when they visit the Washington Huskies this weekend. It’s the Buckeyes’ first road trip of the year, and not an easy environment for redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin to learn on the fly. This Washington Huskies team is unranked but has played well […]
Expectations are for the Ohio State Buckeyes to play a tight game when they visit the Washington Huskies this weekend. It’s the Buckeyes’ first road trip of the year, and not an easy environment for redshirt freshman quarterback Julian Sayin to learn on the fly. This Washington Huskies team is unranked but has played well to start the year.
So well that Ohio State is only the second top-ranked team to be on the road against an unranked team but be favored by less than 10 points in the last 20 years. It’s somewhat shocking to see such faith in a Big Ten team that hasn’t played anyone notable just yet and has a young roster.
This week, our experts polled their projections and predictions together, and one thing is clear about whether this should be a close game.
Ohio State’s betting odds fairly reflect Washington concerns
While each of our experts picked Ohio State to win, only myself and Brandon Little picked the Buckeyes to cover. The Buckeyes entered Friday as 8.5-point favorites, but two of our experts have Ohio State winning by only three and four points, respectively.
That seems unfathomable, especially since one of the projections has Washington racking up 35 points against a defense that suffocated Texas in Week 1. Here’s what Tyler Forness said:
“We’re now four weeks removed from the Buckeyes defeating Texas in the Horseshoe. Some of the kinks have been ironed out, especially on offense. Quarterback Julian Sayin has started to come into his own at the position and has started to develop a rapport with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. That will be huge for the Buckeyes moving forward.
However, it’s going to be the defense that gets tested. Sophomore quarterback Demond Williams looks like the real deal. A dual-threat, he has shown a lot of growth this season. It helps that Jonah Coleman is playing like the best running back in the country and Denzel Boston, son of former Buckeyes wide receiver David Boston, has been lighting the world on fire. The Huskies are riding high after a 59-point outburst in their Apple Cup victory. Who gets the win? Well, this is a potential trap game for the Buckeyes, as the Huskies can put up points. However, the sheer talent of the Buckeyes will get them the win. – Tyler Forness, A to Z Florida
Frankly, I don’t see how Washington really competes in the late stages of the game. We might see a backdoor cover, at best, as Washington is a year away from being such a big spoiler to a team as deep, well-coached, and explosive as Ohio State. And even then, it’s not as if Washington has peak Caleb Williams at quarterback and Ohio State has Kyle McCord.
We’ll see how it plays out soon, but the Buckeyes are expected to be in a bit of a rock fight in beautiful Seattle.
