For The Roses

Photo Credit: Ohiostatebuckeyes.com

Keanu Reeves played a role as a former Ohio State Quarterback in The Replacements. In Shane Falco’s words: Pain heals. Chicks dog scars. Glory lasts forever. After being on the rare receiving end of a trashing from their arch rival Michigan, the Buckeyes find themselves outside of the big dance, without a conference title and wounded in the aftermath.

The wounds are still fresh but they’ve scabbed over. Now, in the form of a New Years Six bid, the Buckeyes will represent the BIG 10 in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl and they will square off against a gritty PAC 12 champ Utah team that had obliterated Oregon twice this season.

As it stands, the intentions of both Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson are unknown. If they play, it would most likely be their last appearance in the scarlet and gray. Although it is a huge “if”, I’ll keep hope that they’ll suit up one more time for their brothers to wash away the salt from a let down in Ann Arbor.

Currently, the Buckeyes are the slight favorites to win in what should be a great, competitive game. The Utes have their stout, stingy defense and the Buckeyes have their dynamic, explosive offense. These two teams combine the right ingredients to create an everlasting, memorable game for all the Roses.

According to the most reviewed sportsbooks at SportsBettingDime.com, the Buckeyes are 6.5 point favorites in this game. If they beat the Utes, the damage will likely be dealt with their passing prowess. With their trio of the nations best wideouts in Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba look to finish the season with a win.

This will be a stiff test, but the Buckeyes seem angry. They are sure talking like they’re taking this seriously as well but we will see. Again, this is a battle of wills, in the trenches. Utah has a similar play style to TTUN and they are also just as physical.

All in all, I am rolling with the Buckeyes in a close one. I am predicting Stroud to play out of his mind with or without Olave and Wilson. I am also predicting Henderson to make a splash with the O-Line reverting back to their early season form. As much as I love predicting blowout, I’ll predict a closer than expected score.

Prediction: Buckeyes over Utes 42-31

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