Buckeyes open as big favorites over Maryland

On3 imageby:Zack Carpenter10/03/21

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COLUMBUS – Ohio State dismantled Akron. Then the Buckeyes dismantled Rutgers.

Back-to-back impressive, blowout performances have the squad once again opening as a heavy betting favorite in its next game.

Ohio State opened as a 21-point betting favorite on Sunday for its next Big Ten Conference matchup against Maryland, per the Vegas Insider Consensus. The over-under opened at 69.5 points.

The Buckeyes will host the Terrapins at noon next Saturday at The Horseshoe. The game will be televised on Fox as Ohio State looks for a 3-0 start in conference play.

“It’s good to get those two [Big Ten] wins for sure,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said after the win over Rutgers. “You know, with a young team the way that this first half of the schedule played out it’s just what it was. We had to handle it. I think it made it us stronger, though, going on the road. And obviously handling the loss in the second game of the year and those type of things has made us a lot stronger.

“And I think we can continue to build on this, and that’s been the whole goal is if we just get better week in and week out, continue to get these guys reps, keep coaching better and give our guys a better opportunity to be successful then hopefully we’ll pick our head up here in about a month and we’ll be where we need to be going into November.”

Next up is another potential big win over the Terps. If Day’s team covers then it will be a third straight game that Ohio State has taken care of business.

The Buckeyes have covered the spread the last two games. First came a 59-7 win over Akron in which they covered a closing line of -48.5 points. Then came Saturday’s big win over Rutgers, 52-13, in which Ohio State was a 15-point favorite.

Now the Buckeyes welcome in a familiar opponent. It’s one that they have handled easily in two of the past three matchups.

Ohio State’s game against Maryland set to be played in College Park during the 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19. But the Buckeyes have won the three most recent matchups with the Terrapins. They sandwiched the infamous 52-51 nailbiter in 2018 with runaway victories in 2017 (a 62-14 win) and 2019 (73-14).

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