Buckeyes open as road favorite in primetime matchup at Wisconsin

COLUMBUS — The Ohio State defense has officially announced itself to the rest of college football. The defensive unit is for real, and it’s leading the way for the 7-0 Buckeyes as they head into back-to-back road games.

Defense travels, or at least that’s what the old cliche is. And the Buckeyes will put that to the test yet again Saturday when they hit the road to face Big Ten West-leading Wisconsin.

Ohio State opened this week of cross-divisional heavyweights as a 14-point favorite over the Badgers and head coach Luke Fickell, who is in his first season with the Badgers after coaching at Cincinnati. Fickell is an Ohio State legend and former interim head coach for the Buckeyes in 2011.

The total opened at 47.5.

The Badgers (5-2, 3-1 Big Ten) are coming off a come-from-behind win over Illinois, a game in which Wisconsin trailed in the final minute before throwing a touchdown pass to an offensive tackle with 27 seconds left. They entered the fourth quarter with a 14-point deficit before scoring the game’s final 18 points for a big road win.

The Buckeyes (7-0, 4-0 Big Ten), meanwhile, shut down No. 7 and previously undefeated Penn State in a 20-12 win inside the Horseshoe on Saturday. And it did so with a dominant defensive effort — and timely offensive plays from the biggest stars on that side of the ball. Mavin Harrison Jr. torched the top-ranked Penn State defense with 11 catches — 10 of them for first downs — for 162 yards and a touchdown in a historic performance.

Now the Badgers and Buckeyes will battle in Madison as each jockeys to stay at the top of their respective Big Ten divisions. And Ohio State will begin the week as a road favorite for the primetime matchup.

Ohio State vs. Wisconsin trends

• Ohio State is 4-2-1 against the spread this season. The Buckeyes have covered the spread in every game since it started 0-2 against the number, with the exception of the push at Notre Dame.
• Ohio State is 7-2 against the number in their its 9 games against Wisconsin.
• The Buckeyes have went over the total just once in their seven games this season
• Wisconsin is 3-4 against the spread this season
• The total has gone under in four of the Badgers seven games this season
• Ohio State is 5-1 against the number in its last six regular season meetings against the Badgers
• The Buckeyes have beaten Wisconsin by single digits in five of their last seven trips to Madison
• Ohio State is 5-2 straight up at Wisconsin since the turn of the century