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OSU, Oregon play for national title Monday
By: Brian Graham - StatFox
Published: 1/12/2015  at  6:31:00 AM
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OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (13-1)
vs. OREGON DUCKS (13-1)

College Football Playoff Championship Game
AT&T Stadium - Arlington, TX
Kickoff: Monday, 8:30 p.m. ET
Line: Oregon -6.5, Total: 75.5

No. 4 Ohio State looks to pull off another upset when it faces No. 2 Oregon for the national championship on Monday night in Arlington, TX.

Here is the BetDSI Sportsbook betting preview for this matchup:

The Buckeyes were not supposed to beat No. 1 Alabama with third-string quarterback Cardale Jones, especially after trailing 21-6 in the second quarter in the Jan. 1 national semifinal game, but they scored 28 straight points and held on for the 42-35 victory. Ohio State has now won 12 straight contests (8-4 ATS) since its lone loss of the season on Sept. 6 versus Virginia Tech. The Ducks also finished their national semifinal game on a high note, blowing out what was a narrow 25-20 lead in the third quarter by scoring the final 35 points of the game in a 59-20 rout. Since its lone defeat of the year versus Arizona on Oct. 2, Oregon has won nine straight contests (SU and ATS) with the average score being 49 to 22. The school has tallied at least 42 points in all nine wins, while carrying a robust +13 turnover margin during the win streak. The Buckeyes, who are looking for their first title since 2002, are 8-0 all-time versus the Ducks, who have never won a national championship. These two schools last played in the 2010 Rose Bowl with Ohio State prevailing 26-17 thanks to a gaudy time of possession advantage of 41:37 to 18:23. But Oregon is the clear favorite on Monday with Heisman winning QB Marcus Mariota, who has thrown for 71 touchdowns and only 7 interceptions over the past two seasons. Both schools have positive coaching trends, as Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer is 12-1 ATS off an upset win as a college head coach, while the Ducks are 10-0 ATS under second-year head coach Mark Helfrich after scoring 50+ points in their previous game. While OSU has no injury concerns other than top two QBs J.T. Barrett (ankle) and Braxton Miller (shoulder) both out, Oregon will be without WR Darren Carrington after he failed a drug test, and WR Devon Allen is doubtful after hurting his knee versus Florida State. OL Andre Yruretagoyena (ankle) is questionable for the Ducks.

Ohio State is an excellent rushing team with 262.2 YPG (10th in nation), but it has great balance with the ability to also throw the football with 247.5 YPG (52nd in FBS). This balance has led to a lofty 45.0 PPG this season, good for fifth-best in the nation. Sophomore QB Cardale Jones (618 pass yards, 9.0 YPA, 6 TD, 1 INT) hasn't looked like a third-stringer in his past two games. After completing 12-of-17 passes for 257 yards, 3 TD and 0 INT to beat Wisconsin for the Big Ten title, he totaled 286 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT versus Alabama on New Year's Day. He'll continue to rely on his top two pass catchers when dropping back, senior WR Devin Smith (886 rec yards, 12 TD) and sophomore WR Michael Thomas (746 rec yards, 9 TD). The speedster Smith averages a whopping 27.7 yards per catch this season, including 224 yards on six receptions (37.3 average) with 4 TD in the past two games. Thomas also has big-play ability, as evidenced by a 79-yard TD reception this year, and also performed well against the Crimson Tide with seven catches for 66 yards. But the real star of the semifinal win was RB Ezekiel Elliott (1,632 rush yards, 6.9 YPC, 14 TD) who rushed for 230 yards on 20 carries (11.5 YPC) with two touchdowns. This was even better than his monster game in the Big Ten Championship when he ran for 220 yards on 20 carries with 2 TD. He now has eight 100-yard rushing games, including four in a row, and Elliott's legs will be a key to sustaining drives and keeping Oregon's high-powered offense on the sidelines. Defensively, the Buckeyes allow only 22.1 PPG (26th in nation), as they are strong both versus the run (142 rushing YPG on 3.9 YPC) and through the air (192 passing YPG, 5.9 YPA). The unit has forced at least two turnovers on 10 different occasions this year, racking up seven giveaways in the two postseason contests.

Oregon ranks 11th in the nation in passing (311.0 YPG), but it also rushes for 241.9 YPG (18th in FBS), leading to the second-most points in the country (47.2 PPG). Junior QB Marcus Mariota (4,121 pass yards, 10.1 YPA, 40 TD, 3 INT) was a runaway Heisman winner who has completed 68.6% of his passes with only three picks on 408 throws. He has tossed at least two TD passes in every game this season, and has scored at least one touchdown on the ground in six straight contests. For the season, Mariota has run for 731 yards (5.8 YPC) and 15 touchdowns, but that wasn't even tops on his own team. Freshman RB Royce Freeman (1,343 rush yards, 5.6 YPC, 18 TD) was consistently excellent all season, ending the 2014 calendar year with eight straight games of at least 98 rushing yards where he tallied 12 total touchdowns. Although he struggled a bit on Jan. 1 versus the Seminoles with only 44 yards on 12 carries (3.7 YPC), Freeman did score two times. The star rusher of that win was sophomore RB Thomas Tyner (511 rush yards, 5.1 YPC, 5 TD) who returned after a three-game absence (shoulder injury) and rushed for 124 yards on 13 carries (9.5 YPC) with two touchdowns. While this ball-carrying depth is superb, the Ducks have another great rusher and receiver in junior WR Byron Marshall (834 rec yards, 5 TD; 383 rush yards, 1 TD) who averages 7.5 yards per carry and leads his team with 66 receptions. Marshall was pretty quiet versus FSU with only 20 receiving yards on five catches and one carry for zero yards, but he has eclipsed 130 receiving yards on three different occasions this year, while catching at least four passes in 10 of his past 11 contests. With the team's top two WRs, Darren Carrington (704 rec yards, 4 TD) and WR Devon Allen (684 rec yards, 7 TD) unlikely to play on Monday, Mariota still has plenty of strong receivers with Marshall, WR Dwayne Stanford (578 rec yards, 6 TD), and TE Pharaoh Brown (420 rec yards, 6 TD), who were all valuable members of this potent offense. The 6-foot-2 freshman Carrington has been unbelievable in the two-game postseason with 14 catches for 291 yards and three touchdowns, so his absence will certainly be felt. Defensively, the Ducks give up only 22.3 PPG (27th in nation), but they do allow 422 total YPG (5.4 yards per play), broken down between a hefty 266 passing YPG (6.7 YPA) and 156 rushing YPG (4.2 YPC). Just like OSU, Oregon also has a very opportunistic unit with at least two takeaways in 11-of-14 games this season, including seven forced turnovers in the past two contests.


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