Ohio (1-0) at Purdue (0-1)
When: Friday, September 8th 2017
Where: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, IN
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: FOX Sports 1
Opening Odds: Purdue -2.5/56.5
Open an Account at Bovada Sportsbook Now! Sign up at Bovada.lv to get a $250 Signup Bonus to bet NCAA Football odds and props!
The Purdue Boilermakers played well last week only to come up short against a far-superior opponent and will seek their first victory under new coach Jeff Brohm when they host the Ohio Bobcats on Friday night. It will be the first ever Friday night clash at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette as the Big Ten is scheduling more pre-Saturday affairs. The Boilermakers fell short in their upset bid of No. 16 Louisville as they dropped a 35-28 decision to the Cardinals in Indianapolis, but the 24.5-point underdogs were competitive for four quarters. The Boilermakers are 7-0 all-time against Ohio, although the two teams haven’t met since 1998. Purdue looks to extend their winning streak in home openers to 14 in a row on Friday. The Bobcats started the season by blowing-out FCS opponent Hampton 59-0, but will have their first true test of the young season with the hope of knocking off a Big Ten foe for the first time since upsetting Penn State 24-14 in 2012, in what was Bill O’Brien’s debut taking over for the legendary Joe Paterno.
Sophomore quarterback Quinton Maxwell completed 7-of-9 passes for 100 yards and a score while his backup Nathan Rourke added three touchdowns on the ground in the thumping of Hampton. Julian Ross rushed for a pair of touchdowns while Dorian Brown and Dylan Wears each added a TD on the ground as the Bobcats ran for seven touchdowns, the most since 2002 when they had six against Kent State. Hampton was no match for the Bobcats. Ohio won the first down battle 22-7 and held the Pirates to just 106 total yards. The Bobcats are no slouch – they are expected to compete for the MAC-East crown this season and return 13 starters from a team that went 8-6 last year and lost the Dollar General Bowl to Troy 28-23. They will host Kansas next week out of the Big 12 before starting conference play at Eastern Michigan on September 23rd.
[ad id=’37018′]
Junior running back Markell Jones will be out with a knee injury for up to two weeks while defensive tackle Lorenzo Neal will miss the first half against Ohio after he was ejected for targeting in the third quarter of the loss to Louisville. Jones was Purdue’s leading rusher last season with 641 yards and will be missed. Purdue ran the ball for just 51 yards and a 2.4 average last week against Louisville. Elijah Sindelar started at QB against the Cardinals and threw for 118 yards while David Blough, who was last season’s starter but missed two weeks of fall camp with a shoulder injury, finished with 175 yards passing. The Boilermakers have a potential number one receiver in freshman Jackson Anthrop, who caught seven balls for 82 yards and two touchdowns in his first game. The Boilermakers, who are 41-12-1 against teams currently in the MAC, will be at Missouri next week.
This may not be a Top 25 game, but should be very competitive. The Bobcats have an experienced secondary that should be able to slow down the Purdue passing attack. The Boilermakers simply can not run the football, which makes them too one-dimensional. Frank Solich is in his 13th year with the Bobcats and knows how to coach in big games. Don’t be fooled by last week’s strong effort by Purdue. They’re still not very good. I’ll take the points.
Pick: Ohio +4
TRENDS:
- Bobcats are 8-1 ATS in their last 9 road games.
- Bobcats are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 vs. Big Ten.
- Bobcats are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games in September.
- Bobcats are 13-3 ATS in their last 16 Friday games.
- Bobcats are 12-3-1 ATS in their last 16 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 12-4 ATS in their last 16 games following a straight up win.
- Bobcats are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
- Bobcats are 19-7 ATS in their last 26 non-conference games.
- Bobcats are 7-3 ATS in their last 10 games following a ATS win.
- Bobcats are 34-16-1 ATS in their last 51 games on grass.
- Bobcats are 3-11 ATS in their last 14 games after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game.
- Bobcats are 3-12 ATS in their last 15 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points.
- Boilermakers are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 games after accumulating less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Boilermakers are 9-4 ATS in their last 13 games following a straight up loss.
- Boilermakers are 16-33-4 ATS in their last 53 games following a ATS win.
- Boilermakers are 7-15 ATS in their last 22 vs. MAC.
- Boilermakers are 11-25-2 ATS in their last 38 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Boilermakers are 2-8 ATS in their last 10 home games.
- Boilermakers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Boilermakers are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 games on grass.
- Under is 3-0-1 in Bobcats last 4 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Under is 6-0 in Bobcats last 6 vs. a team with a losing record.
- Under is 3-0-1 in Bobcats last 4 games on grass.
- Under is 3-0-1 in Bobcats last 4 games after allowing less than 275 total yards in their previous game.
- Under is 11-2-1 in Bobcats last 14 games overall.
- Under is 5-1 in Bobcats last 6 games after allowing less than 100 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Under is 5-1-1 in Bobcats last 7 road games.
- Under is 5-1-1 in Bobcats last 7 games following a ATS win.
- Under is 14-3 in Bobcats last 17 games after scoring more than 40 points in their previous game.
- Under is 23-7-1 in Bobcats last 31 games following a straight up win.
- Under is 5-2-1 in Bobcats last 8 Friday games.
- Over is 5-2-1 in Bobcats last 8 games after allowing less than 170 yards passing in their previous game.
- Under is 39-16-1 in Bobcats last 56 games after accumulating more than 200 yards rushing in their previous game.
- Over is 4-0 in Boilermakers last 4 games on grass.
- Over is 6-1 in Boilermakers last 7 vs. MAC.
- Over is 10-2 in Boilermakers last 12 home games.
- Over is 5-1 in Boilermakers last 6 vs. a team with a winning record.
- Over is 4-1 in Boilermakers last 5 games following a straight up loss.
- Over is 4-1 in Boilermakers last 5 games after accumulating more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Over is 20-6 in Boilermakers last 26 games following a ATS win.
- Over is 6-2 in Boilermakers last 8 games after allowing more than 450 total yards in their previous game.
- Over is 20-7 in Boilermakers last 27 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
- Over is 11-4 in Boilermakers last 15 games overall.
- Under is 19-8 in Boilermakers last 27 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
