Hilltoppers vs Buckeyes Odds: Will Kyle McCord Settle Down as Ohio State’s QB1?
McCord Finally Won The Job Over Sophomore Devin Brown

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a little more clarity heading into the third week of the college football season.
After wins against Indiana and Youngstown State, the Buckeyes have announced Kyle McCord as the starting quarterback, barring anything unexpected.
McCord has thrown for nearly 500 yards through two games, adding three touchdowns and a QBR of 84.5. That was enough for the Buckeyes to finally acknowledge that he’d be the starter moving forward over Devin Brown.
McCord and the Buckeyes will welcome the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers to town for another non-conference tilt. Western Kentucky is also 2-0 and has earned wins over South Florida and Houston Baptist.
The 28-point spread for the Buckeyes suggests that Western Kentucky has a minimal chance of winning this game. But can the Hilltoppers at least cover the spread on the road?
Here are the Hilltoppers vs Buckeyes odds for Saturday’s matchup on FOX.
Western Kentucky vs Ohio State 
Date & Time: Saturday, September 16, 4:00 pm ET, 1:00 pm PT
Location: Ohio Stadium
Streaming: FOX
Don’t Sleep On Austin Reed!
The Western Kentucky Hilltoppers are known for their starting quarterback development. Austin Reed is just another quarterback having an incredible college career with the Hilltoppers.
Reed transferred from Southern Illinois in 2018 to West Florida from 2019-2021. Eventually, he wound up at Western Kentucky, where he’s played ball since 2022.
In Reed’s first season with the Hilltoppers, he threw for 4,744 yards, with 40 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions on 602 attempts. Reed’s quarterback rating was 149.1 throughout the season, completing nearly 65% of passes.
He even led the Hilltoppers to a 44-23 win over South Alabama in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, where he added 497 yards with four touchdowns.
Reed had many games where he threw 50+ times last season. In his first bowl game, he threw 55 times.
Meanwhile, to start the 2023 season. Reed has already attempted 83 passes. He’s completed 67.5 of them and has six touchdowns with no interceptions. He’s also rushed for two more touchdowns on seven attempts.
Ohio State will have its work cut out for them against Western Kentucky. They’re facing an experienced quarterback who has had massive success. He’s now a senior and a leader for the program and rarely makes mistakes.
He took over for Bailey Zappe, quarterback for the Hilltoppers before Reed. Zappe’s in the NFL with the Patriots and has legitimate experience in the NFL from his rookie season.
These games against the elite are the games that are circled on the NCAAF schedules. This game will have more eyes than any other Western Kentucky game this year. Reed will want to show out.
Kyle McCord Can Keep Up
There was a strange quarterback battle during training camp at Ohio State.
Kyle McCord was the clear favorite to win the starting job for the Buckeyes. However, Devin Brown turned some heads in training camp and had 50% of staff members fighting for Brown to start over McCord.
McCord has been at Ohio State since 2021. He was behind C.J. Stroud and was almost guaranteed to be next in line. However, Ohio State fans were concerned when the reports came out about Brown potentially winning the job at quarterback.
How does a guy like McCord potentially lose the starting job after two previous seasons with the Buckeyes?
Brown came to Ohio State in 2022. He didn’t get any snaps in 2022 but went 8-for-16 this year. He threw for just 99 yards and rushed seven times for just six yards. It became more apparent that McCord was the guy through two weeks.
The Ohio State offense still isn’t where it wants to be. Head Coach Ryan Day acknowledged that the offense hasn’t found its identity yet. But the coaching staff figured they’d be able to give McCord peace of mind knowing that one or two mistakes wouldn’t put him on the bench.
He was likely playing tight and felt pressured to be the best player, sometimes hurting players mentally.
The Buckeyes want McCord to continue to manage games well and not make bad plays worse. His decision-making has been good through two weeks. Therefore, he finally convinced Ohio State to let him be the No. 1 quarterback.
Hilltoppers vs Buckeyes Odds
On Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes are 28-point favorites against the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. Meanwhile, the total is at 63, with the anticipation that both quarterbacks have big days throwing the football.
The Hilltoppers covered their first game against South Florida but didn’t cover a 42.5-point spread against Houston Baptist in a 30-point win.
However, Western Kentucky’s first two games have hovered around 64 and 65 points per game.
On the other hand, the Buckeyes have won both games but haven’t covered in either. The Under has also hit in both games, with no more than 42 points scored in either Ohio State game.
McCord hasn’t been super dominant for the Buckeyes. However, he’ll likely play better, knowing he’s the starter. The Buckeyes’ staff are hard at work trying to figure out the best ways to get the offense moving again.
Ohio State has some of the best wide receivers in college football, including Marvin Harrison Jr., who hauled nine catches for 178 yards and two touchdowns. One of our college football predictions is that he’ll be the first wide receiver off the board in the next NFL Draft.
Meanwhile, Western Kentucky doesn’t have a great run block. They also don’t have a great run game. They’ll be throwing the football around from the start of the game to the finish. Reed has some great receivers, too, and with solid pass protection, he’ll also add plenty of points on the board.
It’s McCord vs. Reed!
Who doesn’t like high NCAA football scores?
The Buckeyes and Hilltoppers have been great in the secondary. However, Ohio State’s pass rush has yet to impress, and Western Kentucky has missed countless tackles against their first two opponents.
The Hilltoppers’ defense will be outmatched against the Buckeyes. But we still think that Western Kentucky can also put up a solid portion of points in this game.
As we suggested earlier, Reed has thrown many passes per game. He’s had multiple games with 50+ attempts per game. Western Kentucky likes to move fast with Austin Reed to catch other defenses off guard. It likely won’t happen much against Ohio State. But it doesn’t have to. It just needs to happen a couple of times.
If Western Kentucky can put up two touchdowns and a field goal, that would likely be enough to help push this game Over the total with Ohio State.
The Hilltoppers vs Buckeyes odds for the total are lower than expected. Back the Over 63.
For college football betting news, odds, analysis and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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