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ESPN’s FPI predicts outcome of Ohio State’s game against Western Michigan
By Mark Kern
Published:
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) predicts the outcome of each college football game each week.
The projections for this week include the Ohio State-Western Michigan matchup. The Broncos will be playing their second consecutive B1G team after they lost 28-14 to Wisconsin in Week 1. This will also be the second MAC team for Ohio State after a season-opening blowout of Akron, 52-6.
The FPI gives the Buckeyes a 98.1% implied win probability. This means the Broncos are huge underdogs at home, with just a 1.9% chance to win.
Even though the game finished 28-14, the Broncos took a 14-13 lead less than a minute into the fourth quarter before losing. The defense really battled in this game, making things tough for the Badgers for much of the day. Offensively, the Broncos also had their own struggles. Western Michigan finished with only 261 total yards of offense and quarterback Hayden Wolff throwing for only 141 yards.
Ohio State is a national title contender, but for the first half, it was a struggle on the offensive end. At one point, quarterback Will Howard was only 6-of-16. He finished the game 17-of-28 for 228 yards and 3 touchdowns, hitting freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith for 2 of those touchdowns. The Buckeyes defense has not been great the past couple seasons at forcing turnovers, but they were able to force 3 in Week 1.
The Buckeyes are favored by 38.5 points at home and the over/under is 53.5 according to FanDuel, and fans can use Tradition’s OH sports betting apps to get in on the action. This continues a relatively easy nonconference schedule for Ohio State.