Gophers have goods to hang with Ohio St.
VSiN’s experts dive into two of Thursday’s college football games.
Ohio State at Minnesota Reynolds: Ryan Day has yet to lose in the regular season, going 20-0, and has led Ohio State to consecutive Big Ten championships in his first two seasons as coach. The Buckeyes rank 126th of 130 FBS programs in terms of returning production, but, as the cliche goes, they don’t rebuild, they reload.
For the first time since 2015, the Buckeyes open on the road, and they begin with a conference road game for only the second time since 1975. Redshirt freshman C.J. Stroud will make his first start at quarterback for an offense that returns six starters, including top receivers Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson.
The Buckeyes also will want to test Minnesota’s rushing defense early and often, considering the Gophers gave up 256 and 281 yards on the ground in their first two games last year against Michigan and Maryland, respectively.
Minnesota ranks sixth in returning production with 10 starters back on each side of the ball. Expectations were high last year after the Gophers went 11-2 in 2019 and posted only the second double-digit-win season in school history. But Minnesota was blown out at home by Michigan in last year’s opener and never recovered. Expectations have been lowered this year, which could give the Gophers value as a dark horse in the Big Ten West.
Tanner Morgan will start at quarterback for the third year, and first-team all-conference running back Mo Ibrahim and the entire offensive line return. Nevertheless, Ohio State was one of seven teams to allow fewer than 100 ypg on the
ground last year, so Morgan will have to make plays in the air against a Buckeyes back seven that ranked dead last in the conference in passing defense.
Ohio State should be a College Football Playoff contender again, but this is a tricky game with a new starting quarterback in his first road start against a team motivated to make a good first impression after last year’s flop. Despite Day’s 6-1 ATS mark as a road favorite, 14 points looks like a fair number to take the home underdog.
Boise State at UCF
Marshall: The question being asked around Orlando is whether new coach Gus Malzahn will retain the fast-paced offense used by predecessors Josh Heupel and Scott Frost. The downside was the defense was often back on the field too quickly and never able to get a needed breather. No matter, Malzahn might be tempted to retain the go-go pace that features the quick release of prolific southpaw QB Dillon Gabriel, who had 32 TD passes in 2020.
That’s especially true since the Knights have been fortified by transfers, including DE Big Kat Bryant, who followed Malzahn from Auburn, and the return of key DT Kalia Davis, who opted out last season.
New Boise State coach Andy Avalos knows all about the team’s culture, having worked on the staffs of Chris Petersen and Bryan Harsin, and QB Hank Bachmeier enters his third year as the starter. But this might be a tougher test than their last opener in Florida, when the Broncos dumped a downgraded Florida State two years ago. Both offenses are accomplished, but as both are putting more emphasis on their defenses, might the total (68.5) be a tad high?