What prop bets can you make for Ohio State vs. Purdue football game?

Normally, playing the Purdue Boilermakers isn’t a cause for concern for the Ohio State football Buckeyes. But, let’s be honest, going to Ross-Ade Stadium always seems to be a bit more confounding and complicated than it needs to be. So, if you are feeling especially antsy about the Bucks’ game today and want to distract yourself with all of the unusual betting options available, I’m here to help.

So, let’s run through some of the most interesting prop bets for today’s game from our friends at DraftKings Sportsbook. One not mentioned below that I wanted to highlight is that DK has the chance of the game going to overtime at +1600. Obviously, if that happened all of Buckeye Nation would be thoroughly pissed and not especially worried about a prop bet, but in case you want to make that bet, feel free.

Who Will Score First?

This is always a fun one for me because trying to predict who scores first has to take into account a ton of football factors, but also things that are completely left to chance. Yes, you have to be able to analyze both teams’ offenses and defenses, but you’ve also got to keep in mind that who gets the ball first is essentially determined by a random flip of a coin.

Now, against Notre Dame, the Buckeyes won the toss and Ryan Day decided to take the ball (which I wholeheartedly support). So, there is a bit of strategic thinking that you have to figure in when making this bet. If most teams defer to the second half, but OSU opts to start on offense, that significantly increases the chances that the Buckeyes score first; and, considering that Ohio State’s offense is significantly better than Purdue’s, that feels like a fairly solid bet.

Of course, the most fun bet would be to put a buck or two on each safety option. While almost wholly unlikely, a $1 bet could profit you up to $800, so that’s certainly worth one dollar of sweat.

How Much Will the Largest Lead of the Game Be?

According to DraftKings Sportsbook, the line for the game has dropped from 20.5 to 18 points, so the largest lead question is essentially whether or not Ohio State (or I suppose Purdue) will ever have a lead four points above the spread. While the Buckeyes did get the cover against Maryland, they have not been an especially great covering team in recent years, so to expect them to go above and beyond the spread at any point seems like something that might not be worth the wager, especially at fairly thin margins.

How Many Touchdowns Will Be Scored?

I think this one is fun because of how mixed up the touchdown totals are. It goes 6 to 7 to 5 to 8 to 4 to 9 to 10 or more back down to 3. The distribution of odds is fascinating. The 6.5 total touchdowns aren’t all that interesting to me from an over/under perspective because I think that’s probably a fairly accurate line. However, I will be trying to decode the pattern in the odds breakdown until kickoff.

What Will the Winning Margin Be?

Again, the line currently sits at 18 points for the Buckeyes, so it is interesting to me that the biggest gap doesn’t happen until the jump from 31 to 36 points and 37 to 42. Personally — because I am a terrible gambler — I would probably put a little bit on the 37 to 42 and 43+ options just because I think that there is a moderately decent chance of it happening and the pay out is good.

Who Will Score X Number of Points First?

The answer to all of these is Ohio State. Just take Ohio State in all of them.

Will the Final Score Be an Even or Odd Number?

This is for absolute degenerates only, but I need someone who is not completely worthless when it comes to math to walk me through why odd is a not insignificant favorite here.