NCAA Football
2024-12-21 - Tennessee Volunteers at Ohio State Buckeyes
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : College Football PlayOff First Round
Saturday 21st December 2024 - Scheduled 8pm
1am (British Time)
Preview
Winning the National Championship would make up for the awful home loss to the Michigan Wolverines, but anything less than that may raise questions about the direction Ohio State Buckeyes (10-2) are going under Head Coach Ryan Day.
Despite that defeat to the Wolverines as a three score favourite, the Buckeyes were locked into a Playoff spot and they will be looking to make amends for the defeat. If they had won, Ohio State might have played for the Big Ten Championship and the chance to earn a Bye through to the Quarter Final, but the team are hoping to move past the defeat to Michigan.
First up in the expanded Playoff is a game against the Tennessee Volunteers (10-2) who had a strong season in the SEC, but who will need more from the Offense if they are going to really challenge for a National Championship.
Defensively they have to believe they can produce similar to the Wolverines in largely keeping Ohio State out of sync and that is likely going to be key to the outcome of the game outright and especially against the spread.
There have been injuries that have impacted the Buckeyes Offensive Line and they struggled to get things going on the ground against the Michigan Wolverines. Even with the break between games, Ohio State might be asking too much to move the ball on the ground against a Volunteers Defensive Line that have been amongst the very best in College Football and so the pressure is likely going to be on veteran Quarter Back Will Howard.
Despite the injuries up front, the Buckeyes Offensive Line have given Will Howard some time to make his throws down the field and there are some very skilful playmakers around the Quarter Back. This will help, but the Volunteers are tough at all three levels of their Defense and Tennessee will certainly feel they can avoid giving up a lot of points.
It is important to do that and not force their young Quarter Back and the Offense to try and keep up on the scoreboard.
Once again the Line of Scrimmage is going to be massively important and the Volunteers would love to find a way to establish the run. The Volunteers Offensive Line have played well this season, but this is another big test for them against Ohio State who have plenty of talent on the Defensive Line.
In their defeat to the Wolverines, the Buckeyes did hold the team to 4.1 yards per carry, but Michigan were allowed to stick with the run in a close game and that is something that the Volunteers will look to do and avoid putting Nick Iamaleava under the scrutiny to make plays against the Ohio State Secondary.
The Tennessee Offensive Line has been much happier when it comes to run blocking than pass protection so they will want to avoid obvious passing situations.
Ohio State have a Secondary that have really played well down the stretch and you would worry for the underdog if they were to fall a couple of scores behind.
However, it is the Tennessee Defensive unit that have the capabilities of keeping this game close and it makes the points being offered to the road underdog appealing. The cold weather is a concern, but that should not prevent the Volunteers from sticking with the game plan and they can keep this one competitive in a hostile environment.
Prediction
Take the points with the road underdog.
The Pick :
Ohio State Buckeyes 17-13 Tennessee Volunteers
