EDITORIAL BY GRAYDON FOX

Overview:

On Tuesday, January 1^st, the (10-3) Washington Huskies will take on the (12-1) Ohio State Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl Game presented by Northwestern Mutual.

The Crowd:

The Crowd projects a final score of Ohio State 35.0 – Washington 26.2 with an over/under of 61.2.

Lou Holtz and Mark May:

Lou is predicting a final score of Ohio State 28 – Washington 24.

Mark is predicting a final score of Ohio State 44 – Washington 31.

2018-19 Statistics (130 total teams):

Passing offense: Ohio State 373.0 YPG (2^nd) > Washington 232.5 YPG (64^th)

Rushing offense: Washington 179.9 YPG (55^th) > Ohio State 175.3 YPG (57^th)

Scoring offense: Ohio State 43.5 PPG (8^th) > Washington 26.6 PPG (84^th)

Scoring defense: Washington 15.5 PPG (5^th) > Ohio State 25.7 PPG (54^th)

Passing defense: Washington 185.4 (21^st) > Ohio State 239.8 YPG (83^rd)

Rushing defense: Washington 116.4 YPG (16^th) > Ohio State 160.5 YPG (61^st)

Turnover Margin Per Game: Ohio State +0.5 (30^th) > Washington +0.3 (38^th)

Strength of Schedule:

Washington is (10-3) with victories over North Dakota, Utah, Arizona State, #20 BYU, UCLA, Colorado, Stanford, Oregon State, #8 Washington State, and #17 Utah.  They were defeated by #9 Auburn, #17 Oregon and California.

Ohio State is (12-1) with wins over Oregon State, Rutgers, #15 TCU, Tulane, #9 Penn State, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, #18 Michigan State, Maryland, #4 Michigan, and #21 Northwestern.  Their lone defeat was in week eight at Purdue.

Betting Trends: 

– Washington is 4-8 against the spread this season while Ohio State is 6-7.

– Washington is 3-9 against the over/under this season whereas Ohio State is 7-6.

Bottom Line

Buckeyes’ quarterback Dwayne Haskins has no shortage of weapons as four Ohio State receivers eclipsed 600 yards.  Ohio State thrives on third down where they have the 10^th best conversion rate in the nation (48%).  Washington quarterback Jake Browning has been very inconsistent and could struggle against an excellent Ohio State pass rush.  Containing Myles Gaskin on the ground is the key to this game because that will force Browning to take shots down the field.  Ohio State will come out motivated to win what will be Urban Meyer’s final game with the Buckeyes.

Ohio State wins 38-24

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