The third chapter in Ohio State's national title defense campaign kicks off in primetime tonight.
The Buckeyes will welcome the Ohio Bobcats to Columbus this evening as the latter seeks to become the first in-state opponent to defeat OSU in over a century.
Easier said than done.
GAMEDAY IN THE SHOE pic.twitter.com/glnU3ILTHv
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) September 13, 2025
Ohio hits the road for a quick trip out of Athens after scoring a big win at home last week over a West Virginia squad that may have gotten caught looking ahead to today's Backyard Brawl against Pittsburgh. Between that and a near-comeback against Rutgers in the Bobcats' opener, Ohio at least profiles as one of the better teams in the MAC this season a couple games into the schedule.
While Ohio State gears up for its first night game of the 2025-26 season, check out how the Buckeye football experts at Eleven Warriors see this game unfolding as the Buckeyes prepare to close out the non-conference slate.
Score Predictions
Andy Anders — Ohio State 52, Ohio 13: Parker Navarro makes some cool plays at quarterback, and the Bobcats are the first team to reach double-digits against Ohio State, but it won’t be sustained and Ohio isn’t stopping the Buckeyes on offense.
Chase Brown — Ohio State 45, Ohio 9: Yes, Ohio State allows more points to the Ohio Bobcats than the top-ranked Texas Longhorns. How? Because college football is a silly little game. But also, I think Parker Navarro's dual-threat ability puts Ohio's offense in a position to score points — even if it results in a few 3s instead of 6s.
George Eisner — Ohio State 42, Ohio 7: Expect the Buckeyes to air it out early and then spend the second half fine-tuning their ground game while running out the clock. Matt Patricia has opposing offenses in hell right now and it could be a while before we see the competition break into double digits against the Silver Bullets.
Jack Emerson — Ohio State 42, Ohio 14: The state of Ohio remains in Buckeye hands after another stellar showing from Julian Sayin and his cast of pass catchers.
Matt Gutridge — Ohio State 35, Ohio 7: When ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll, Ohio State is 76-12-1 and is 5-0 when playing against an opponent from the MAC. All-time, the Buckeyes are undefeated against the Bobcats and will increase the winning streak against this in-state opponent to eight after today’s game. OU, Oh No.
Dan Hope — Ohio State 48, Ohio 10: The Bobcats have already played two good games against Power 4 teams this year, but there’s a big difference between West Virginia/Rutgers and Ohio State. Add in the potential for a hangover from their thrilling win over the Mountaineers, and I expect the Buckeyes to be too much for their in-state peers, even if Parker Navarro has a bit more success against Ohio State’s defense than Arch Manning did.
Kyle Jones — Ohio State 42, Ohio 10: Parker Navarro leads a pair of successful scoring drives for the otherwise overwhelmed Bobcats, as the Buckeye passing game erupts for another big day.
Chris Lauderback — Ohio State 45, Ohio 6: Julian Sayin tosses four more touchdown passes to further boost his early Heisman odds with one of those going to Max Klare for his first score as a Buckeye.
Ramzy Nasrallah — Ohio State 42, Ohio 9: For the first and last time this season, Parker Navarro will be the second-best quarterback on the field.
Josh Poloha — Ohio State 42, Ohio 7: Here’s to hoping Rufus doesn’t attack Brutus this time. On to some Big Ten football.
Jason Priestas — Ohio State 44, Ohio 3: Knocking off Rich Rodriguez and West Virginia is nice (sincerely, shout out for that), but the Bobcats are coming into the Shoe at night to face a really confident Ohio State team. Good luck with that, Bobcats.
Jordan Raines — Ohio State 42, Ohio 10: The Bobcats manage to score more points than Texas and Grambling combined, but it’s not enough to take down the superior football team in Ohio.
Will Ohio State Cover?
For a game lined several scores in favor of the Buckeyes, the movement on the spread has still proven interesting to monitor. Betting markets opened last weekend with Ohio State slotted as 35.5-point favorites, but the line has since crashed considerably by nearly a full touchdown as the spread has since fallen to 29.5 points as of this afternoon. The Buckeyes have covered in both of their victories thus far this season, but so have the Bobcats despite splitting their results at a win and loss apiece.
Only Jack Emerson and Matt Gutridge among the dozen staff members at Eleven Warriors believe the Buckeyes will fail to cover tonight. Jason Priestas anticipates the largest chasm between the teams at 41 points — and just three for Ohio — while Emerson and Gutridge both have OSU winning by merely four touchdowns to tie for the smallest expected margin of victory.
What About the Over/Under?
The point total for this matchup has also seen some decrease on its line since release. The teams opened with an initial over/under of 54.5 points that has since fallen to a 49.5 sum. Both schools have witnessed an over and an under in each of their respective pairs of games through the first couple weeks of their schedules.
Eight of 12 folks at the site predict the over will transpire this evening. Andy Anders easily claims the largest total among the projections with a whopping 65 points, while Gutridge's forecast calls for the smallest tally between the teams at just 35 and serves as the only estimate with Ohio State failing to achieve at least 40 points.
Eleven Warriors Prop Bets
Wondering how sportsbooks envision various player performances shaking out in this in-state showdown? Take a look at some of our in-house prop betting lines ahead of tonight's game for some insight into how the betting public expects individuals to stuff the stat sheet. Leave your predictions for us in the comments!
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How many passing yards will Julian Sayin have?
- Over 256.5 (-106)
- Under 256.5 (-129)
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How many passing yards will Parker Navarro have?
- Over 131.5 (-125)
- Under 131.5 (-105)
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How many receiving yards will Jeremiah Smith have?
- Over 93.5 (-115)
- Under 93.5 (-115)
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Will Carnell Tate score a touchdown?
- Yes (-105)
- No (-125)
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How long will Max Klare's longest reception be?
- Over 15.5 yards (-115)
- Under 15.5 yards (-115)
