Revenge is Best Served Cold Penn State v Ohio State Example
By Kris Lazaro (11/30/2006)
Revenge is best served cold. In what is shaping up to be another marquee matchup in this Saturday’s college football card, the Buckeyes of Ohio State look to avenge their 17-10 loss to the Nittany Lions of Penn State. As the current number one team in all of college football, the Buckeyes hope to use this extra motivation to get another win en route to the national championship game. In fact, Buckeyes guard T.J. Downing was heard saying, “We’ve got a bad taste from last year…you never forget the losses.”
The Buckeyes only lost two games last year—when they faced the Texas Longhorns the Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes have already avenged their loss to Texas from last year, as they humiliated the ‘Horns 24-7 as 3 point underdogs. In this Saturday’s matchup, the Buckeyes are currently 17 point favorites to avenge their loss at the Horseshoe.
Historically, the Buckeyes are 0-6 their last 6 games at the ‘Shoe. The home team is also 9-1 straight up in their last ten attempts, and 8-0 against the spread in the last 8 games. Other trends include:
Penn St: 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games; 4-9-1 ATS in their last 14 road games
Ohio St: 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games on Grass; 20-8 in their last 28 games overall (including10-0 last 10 games).
This will also be the Buckeye’s conference home opener. Last year, both teams tied for the conference title, thus the team who wins this year’s game matchup will certainly get an advantage in claiming the Big Ten title. Players on both sides are looking forward to this matchup, and as Buckeyes tailback Antonio Pittman said, “it’s a battle every week…our house, their house – it’ll be a true battle because we all want that league championship.”
The author has a slight lean towards the Buckeyes in this situation. Reasons are as follows: the Buckeyes have a bit of a chip on their shoulders—no Buckeye team in history has ever had the number one ranking wire to wire (meaning from start to finish). After avenging their loss to Texas a couple of weeks ago, the Buckeyes also hope to return the favor this Saturday. Penn State, on the other hand, is going in the opposite direction. Their secondary remains questionable, which gives Ted Ginn, Jr. yet another opportunity to showcase his talent. In all, Penn State is the inferior team in this matchup in all aspects and will be handed an old-fashion whoopin’
Predicted score: Penn State 10, Ohio State 35
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