PPH College Football Betting -- Ohio State Prepares For Life Without Braxton Miller
Braxton Miller is about to go under the knife on Tuesday, which means the Ohio State Buckeyes were in the market for a brand-new quarterback.
Well, truth be told, they didn't have to look all that far, because college football teams have almost a hundred players under scholarship. But they are going to have someone who is rather new. And the question is, can he guide this team to a Big Ten championship, which eluded it last season?
Look, WagerHome.com customers know that the Buckeyes don't have any problems recruiting talent. But the fact remains that when you lose the conference's two-time player of the year, who was an ideal fit for Urban Meyer's spread option offense and expected to round into form as a passer; a Heisman Trophy candidate to be certain, you have a huge void to fill.
That is why Ohio State, which comes into the season ranked #5 by the Associated Press and #6 by the USA Today poll, is now +2000 to win the national championship, according to latest PPH college football betting futures.
On top of that, they may be involved in the most intriguing game of NCAA football's opening weekend. They will have to insert redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett into the lineup, and while the kid came to Columbus with a certain degree of fanfare, was considered to be ready to adapt to Meyer's offensive scheme, and has had a redshirt season to learn it, there is no telling how he is going to perform when there is really something on the line.
It would be one thing if the Buckeyes were facing a lesser light from the Sun Belt or Mid-American Conference. But they catch a Navy team that is arguably the strongest Ken Niumatalolo has ever had in Annapolis. And it is not at the "Horseshoe" but instead at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore (home of the Ravens). Yet they are a 14-point favorite in the latest PPH college football betting odds as they are posted at WagerHome.com.
Everyone knows that the Midshipmen are going to roll up rushing numbers; last season they ranked second in the country at 325 yards a game. But that is only part of the story this season. As inexperienced as Barrett is going to be for OSU, that is how seasoned Keenan Reynolds is at the controls of Navy's option. And does he know how to operate it? For that matter, can he run? Well, let's put it this way - Reynolds broke the NCAA record for most touchdown runs by a quarterback last season (31) and in one game (seven vs. San Jose State). And he can throw it a little as well, 8 TD's, just two INT's). College football bettors are best served to take all of that into consideration.
All told, the Middies (who are -175 at WagerHome to have more than 8.5 regular season wins) have fifteen starters returning - the most they've had in the last eighteen years. But let's not get all that carried away; the Buckeyes aren't going to fall apart just because they lost their quarterback, and certainly not on the defensive side. They still have one of the nation's best defensive lines and linebacker groups, and it has been years and years since this team allowed more than 3.8 yards per carry for a full season. Can they force Reynolds to beat them through the air? WagerHome.com football bettors are curious about that one.
Yes, Miller's shoulder injury may take Ohio State out of genuine contention to be one of the final four teams that are invited into the new college football playoff, but perhaps the silver lining around the dark cloud is that he plans to come back and play his senior season. But that's not necessarily a major surprise; season-ending surgeries aren't exactly the ideal springboard one takes into the NFL Draft, especially as it has now happened twice (he originally tore his labrum in last season's Orange Bowl game).
Better days may be ahead for Meyer and the Buckeyes. But will those better days include Saturday?
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- Charles Jay, Gambling911.com
