Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Betting Odds, Football Pick

Ohio State ran its road winning streak to 20 games, going 13-7 against the spread in the process, with last week's overtime victory at Wisconsin. The Buckeyes will shoot for No. 21 in a row on the road when they hit Happy Valley to take on the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday night.

Point spread: The Buckeyes opened as 20-point favorites, according to sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark (line updates and matchup report).

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 45.8-15.6 Buckeyes (College football picks on every game)

Why Ohio State can cover the spread

OSU remains the second-ranked team in the land following its 30-23 overtime victory over the Badgers in Madison last week. The Buckeyes trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and 16-6 at the half but rallied to take a 20-16 lead early in the fourth quarter. They then fell back down 23-20 but tied the game on Tyler Durbin's third field goal of the night with three minutes left. The Buckeyes then won it on a J.T. Barrett touchdown pass in the top of the first OT and an ensuing defensive stop.

The Badgers outgained and outrushed Ohio State last week, which is the first time another team has done that since the Buckeyes' loss to Michigan State last season. But the Buckeyes never panicked, even when down by 10 points with a struggling offense, and made the big plays when needed.

Barrett, eluding Wisconsin defenders all night long, ended up producing 318 yards from scrimmage, including 92 on the ground, while accounting for three touchdowns.

Why Penn State can cover the spread

The Nittany Lions are on a two-game winning streak following their 38-14 victory over Maryland two weeks ago. They had last week off.

Penn State drove the opening kickoff against the Terrapins 84 yards to a touchdown and a 7-0 lead, held a 24-14 advantage at the half and then blanked Maryland from there to secure the win and the cash as a two-point home underdog. On the day, the Nittany Lions nearly doubled the Terps in total yardage (524-270) and won the ground battle 372-170, as running back Saquon Barkley blasted off for 202 yards and a touchdown.

The week prior to that, Penn State tied Minnesota on a field goal with two seconds left and then beat the Golden Gophers in overtime 29-26 on a 25-yard scoring run from Barkley.

Ohio State just gave up 236 yards rushing to Wisconsin. If the Nittany Lions can get their running game going Saturday, they could make this one interesting.

Smart pick

Ohio State is 4-0 under head coach Urban Meyer against Penn State, winning those games by an average score of 41.8-17.8, and there's not much reason to indicate Saturday's final score will be much different. Plus, playing on the road means the spread is a little more amenable to OSU. The smart money here at online betting sites wagers on the Buckeyes.

Betting trends

Ohio State is 4-0 straight up and 3-1 against the spread in its last four games against Penn State.

Penn State is 2-7-1 ATS in its last 10 games.

Ohio State is 20-0 SU in its last 20 games on the road.

All college football betting lines and point spreads data courtesy of Bleacher Report’s official odds partner, Odds Shark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and Odds Shark YouTube for picks and analysis, or download the free odds tracker app.