Despite Saturday’s game expected to be a blowout, there remains a bit of intrigue for Ohio State’s road trip to Rutgers. Well, sort of.

The big storyline for the matchup is not even Chase Young’s suspension. While the Buckeyes will no doubt miss Young, his absence should not have a big impact on the outcome.

No, the big storyline for the showdown is whether or not Ohio State can cover a 52.5-point spread in the contest. The Buckeyes did cover a spread in the 40’s last week, but this is an even higher number this week.

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FOX Sports analyst Jason McIntyre broke down the matchup during a Friday segment for FS1. According to McIntyre, he has the matchup down as a 53.5-point spread, but he broke down the first-half spread in his segment.

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Despite Ohio State needing to score on every first-half possession, McIntyre is still going to take the Buckeyes at -31.5 in the first half alone:

“Ohio State, a 53.5-point road favorite against Rutgers…Folks, that’s another record,” said McIntyre. “Last week’s spread of 42 points was a record in the Big Ten dating back to 1978…I think to be on the safe side, you should take Ohio State in the first half. This number is going to be massive: 31.5. That means Ohio State has to score on every possession in the first half. I think they can do it.”

Here’s his full FS1 segment:

While the number is incredibly high, both in the first half and for the entire game, the Buckeyes definitely could make an even bigger statement than last week’s 73-point outburst against Maryland. We’ll just have to wait and see how that turns out.