Week 3: Ohio State vs Toledo 9/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Ohio State Buckeyes and Toledo Rockets do battle Saturday afternoon in week 3 college football action at Ohio Stadium. The Toledo Rockets look for their first 3-0 start since the 2017 season. The Ohio State Buckeyes look for their fourth 3-0 start in the last 5 seasons.

The Toledo Rockets have won 4 of their last 5 road games. Dequan Finn is completing 61.1 percent of his passes for 388 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception. Jerjuan Newton and DeMeer Blankumsee have combined for 248 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Jamal Turner has 3 receptions. The Toledo Rockets ground game is averaging 230 yards per contest, and Finn leads the way with 138 yards and 3 touchdowns. Defensively, Toledo is allowing 5 points and 183 yards per game. Dallas Gant leads the Toledo Rockets with 19 tackles, Andre Fuller has 1 sack and Zachary Ford has 1 interception.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have won their last 8 home games. C.J. Stroud is completing 69 percent of his passes for 574 yards, 6 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emerka Egbuka have combined for 448 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns, while Cade Stover has 5 receptions. The Ohio State Buckeyes ground game is averaging 170 yards per contest, and TreVeyon Henderson leads the way with 178 yards and 2 touchdowns. Defensively, Ohio State is allowing 11 points and 264.5 yards per game. Tommy Eichenberg leads the Ohio State Buckeyes with 14 tackles, Michael Hall Jr. has 2 sacks and Denzel Burke has 3 pass deflections.

The Rockets are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 road games and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games in September. The Buckeyes are 4-9 ATS in their last 13 home games and 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games overall. The over is 6-1 in Rockets last 7 games overall. The under is 4-1 in Buckeyes last 5 games in September.

The Ohio State Buckeyes obviously have the horses to open this game up and win big, but it’s important to remember Toledo isn’t exactly a pushover. Toledo returns a lot of players from last year’s squad that was in every game and even took a top-10 Notre Dame team down to the wire. Toledo has success on the ground to shorten this game, and the defense is second against the pass and second in points allowed up to this point. This is also a more significant game to Toledo than it is Ohio State, as the Buckeyes are looking ahead to Wisconsin while the Rockets have a chance to slay big brother. Lots of points here. I’ll take them.