Western Michigan at Ohio State Preview and Best Bet – 9/7/2024

The Western Michigan Broncos will play the Ohio State Buckeyes on September 7, 2024, at 7:30 pm ET. DraftKings Sportsbook has the Buckeyes as massive 38-point favorites at home, while the total for this game sits at 54 points. Here, we break down Western Michigan vs Ohio State, as Ohio State looks to claim its second win in as many weeks over a school from the MAC.

Can Western Michigan Challenge Another Big Ten Team?

The Western Michigan Broncos faced another Big Ten school in their season opener last week, losing 28-14 to Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison. While they did lose that game, Western Michigan fought admirably for the majority of that contest, holding the lead briefly in the fourth quarter before Wisconsin stepped things up a notch late. This week, Western Michigan could be in for an even tougher test as they face the second-ranked Buckeyes.

Obviously it is asking a lot of a team like Western Michigan to generate consistent offense through the air against opponents that are just built to be better than they are. But the Broncos will need something through the air from quarterback Hayden Wolff if they want a shot in this game. Wolff threw for 141 yards, no touchdowns, and an interception against the Badgers last week and he will need to be more productive to help his team's chances in this non-conference game.

Ohio State Seeks Second Straight Blowout Of MAC Foe

The Ohio State Buckeyes got off to a slow start against the Akron Zips in their season opener from Columbus on Saturday. But the Buckeyes turned things on in the second half of that game en route to a convincing 52-6 win over their first non-conference opponent of the year. Here, the Buckeyes will look for more bloodshed against a MAC opponent as they take on Western Michigan.

Will Howard played his first game as Ohio State quarterback last week, throwing for 228 yards and three touchdowns. Obviously, the passing game for Ohio State will need to improve to be anywhere near as good as it was last year with Marvin Harrison Jr. as its top receiving target. But Howard should be able to continue to develop a rapport with his receiving corps in live game action here against a weaker opponent in the Western Michigan Broncos.

Western Michigan vs Ohio State Best Bet

Ohio State's slow start last week against Akron was a little concerning, but the Buckeyes appear to have righted the ship as that game went on. We expect them to build on their second half demolition of the Zips in this game and will gladly lay the big number with the number two team in the country.

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