Ohio State Football: Predictions for Game 4 vs. UNLV

Weekly predictions for Ohio State vs. UNLV.

It’s hard to believe after Saturday’s game verses UNLV, the Ohio State Buckeyes will have played one-third of their regular season schedule. Boy, how the college football season seems to fly by.

Well my nemesis, and long time contributor to Scarlet And Game Thomas Scurlock, and I will make our predictions for Week 4. Although Tom and I are great friends, we are competitive and want to beat the other with our picks.

I slightly edged him out last week but he smoked me the first week of the season, and we both laid an egg in the Oklahoma game. We now stand at 1-1-1 on the season.

Here are our predictions for Week 4. See which one of us you side with. It should be with me of course.

Thomas Scurlock:

Ohio State got back on track against a vastly undermanned Army team last week. Though I was close in my prediction, Charlie managed to edge me out because the offense sputtered a few too many times. I intend to get my weekly title back this week.

Like Army, the UNLV’s offense leans heavily on their ground game. The Rebels are currently ranked No. 4 in the FBS averaging 350.5 yards per game.

Of course the opponents have been Howard and Idaho, so putting any stock into that level of production should be highlighted with a giant asterisk.

Not facing the triple option and cut blocking will help the defensive line and linebackers make cleaner tackles. I expect the Buckeyes to hold the Rebels to les than 100 yards rushing.

UNLV currently ranks No. 80 in passing offense so I don’t think this game will provide the test to determine if the Ohio State secondary is improving. UNLV will take some shots to try and open up running lanes, but the back-end should be fine.

On the other side of the ball, UNLV’s rushing defense is ranked No. 113 allowing 216 yards per game. That’s great news for J.K. Dobbins. He will break 150 yards rushing for the third time this season continuing his charge for 1000-plus.

This game will be about starting fast, burying UNLV early, finishing drives with touchdowns and avoiding injuries.

The weather will be sunny and hot. Perfect day for roasting the rebels. Ohio State wins big, 52-10.

Charlie Lockhart:

I have to agree with Tom on a couple of points. First, the Ohio State front seven will limit the UNLV running attack. And second, you can expect the Buckeyes to put plenty of points on the scoreboard.

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But we differ somewhat on the amount of scoring by both teams. I think Ohio State is going to explode on offense and score early and often. And the back-end of the defense is still is a work in progress, so though I expect them to generally perform well, they will probably give up a couple of big plays.

Urban Meyer and Kevin Wilson aren’t exactly happy with the way the Ohio State offense has performed so far this season, and this is the ideal game to make a statement. I see them putting the hammer down this week and scoring a ton.

On the defensive side of the ball, missed assignments and/or missed tackles in space could lead to cheap points for UNLV. I expect that will be the case.

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I have this as high scoring affair and a 66-17 Buckeye win. So, which side of the fence are you on this week, mine or Tom’s?

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