Ohio Bobcats vs Ohio State Buckeyes Prediction, Odds and Picks for Saturday, 09/13/25

Despite being just a few hours from one another, Ohio and Ohio State rarely play each other on the gridiron. In fact, the Bobcats and the Buckeyes have met just thrice in our lifetime, with the most recent being in 2010 – a 43-7 Buckeye victory. Ohio comes into this game having nearly completed a 17-point comeback win at Rutgers in Week 1 prior to suffocating West Virginia at home in Athens last week. In the 17-10 win, the Bobcats held the Big 12 Mountaineers to just 250 yards and 2/13 on third downs. Moreover, the ‘Bobs had the ball for more than 40 game minutes. It was an impressive home victory over a power conference team, but it will be much harder for Ohio to replicate that success this week at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

The Buckeyes have several new faces on the staff and the roster, but none of that seems to matter. Ohio State has picked up right where it left off after winning a national title last year, moving 2-0 after a 70-0 win over Grambling State. It was predictably an onslaught, but the Buckeyes took care of business against an inferior opponent and left little cause for concern. Not all power conference teams that played FCS opponents last week can say the same. 

My power ratings indicate that I should take the points with the Bobcats in this one, but there’s no way I’m going to do that. Instead, I’m going to pivot towards the total and take the over. Simply, I don’t see Ohio’s defense limiting Ohio State’s offense much, especially with the Buckeyes staring down a bye week following this game to recalibrate for conference play. Ryan Day is going to want his offense humming going into the bye week ahead of their Big Ten schedule. 

The Buckeyes should have enough offensively to surpass this total on their own, which is actually something this program does quite often against MAC teams. Since 2019, Ohio State has utilized its stark talent discrepancy to score at least 52 points in each of its 5 games played against MAC opponents, with multiple 70+ point performances. Expect much of the same this week, especially if Ohio’s defense looks like it did early against Rutgers. Any points from the Bobcats help here, but the heavy lifting will come from the Buckeyes.

Ohio vs Ohio State prediction: Over 51.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to 54.5.

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