Who you got? LGHL staff predicts the score of Ohio State-Tulane

It’s the last tune-up for No. 4 Ohio State before things start to get real when they travel to Happy Valley next weekend. In Urban Meyer’s return from suspension, his Buckeyes will be dealing with their first significant injury of the season, as defensive end Nick Bosa has been sidelined following surgery for a “core muscle injury.”

Nonetheless, they will face off with the Tulane Green Wave at 3:30 p.m. ET today, with the game being broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Over the course of this season, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land are competing to see who the best prognosticator is on staff.

How this is working is that every week our writers and editors will predict what think the final score of the Ohio State game will be. If a forecaster foresees the game’s correct winner, he or she will receive 75 points. If the expert gets the score exactly right, they will receive a bonus 25 points. However, for every point that a prediction is off, one point will be subtracted—with a max total of 25 points getting subtracted. Get it? Got it? Good.

With every new week of predictions, we will update the standings, so that you can follow along and see who the best handicapper on the LGHL staff is. Current standings are below this week’s predictions.

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Matt Brown

Ohio State 56, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 171

(He’s THE Matt Brown, he doesn’t need to give an explanation.)

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Alexis Chassen

Ohio State 68, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 154

The Buckeyes are going to show off in Urban Meyer’s return, which makes me feel like they run up the score just a hair. I don’t think Meyer and team will have figured out how to completely eliminate giving up those big scoring plays that they’ve allowed the past few weeks, but they do keep Tulane to no more than two scores.

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Colton Denning

Ohio State 38, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 182

Ohio State plays it safe with Penn State on deck, and sits the starters after the first half.

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Geoff Hammersley

Ohio State 50, Tulane 16
Season Point Total: 179

The Green Wave gets a few big plays and some points in the process. However, Urban Meyer’s first game back will be too much for Fritz and Co. OSU’s run game will be heavily utilized, leading to J.K. Dobbins and Mike Weber having big days on the ground

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Dan Hassler

Ohio State 66, Tulane 13
Season Point Total: 167

After a crucial win in Texas last week, combined with Urban Meyer being back on the sidelines, Ohio Stadium will be rocking Saturday. I expect the Buckeyes to run away with this game by the end of the first quarter.

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Meredith Hein

Ohio State 56, Tulane 20
Season Point Total: 186

Losing Nick Bosa up front will hurt the Buckeye defense and open up the run game for Tulane... for like a minute. The rest of the defensive line is ready to step up and support. Dwayne Haskins and company will take care of business on the offensive side, but there could be a few moments of confusion as the team adjusts back to having Urban Meyer on the sidelines.

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Caleb Houser

Ohio State 52, Tulane 13
Season Point Total: 172

Ohio State proves itself on offense again as Haskins throws for 4 touchdowns; 2 TDs to K.J. Hill and 1 TD each to Terry McLaurin & Binjimen Victor.

The running game continues it’s dominance as Weber and Dobbins each run for a score and combine for 180 yards on the ground.

Tate Martell comes into the game in the 3rd quarter and rushes for a TD. The score also allows for a Sean Nuernberger FG to make up for last week.

The defense holds tough without Nick Bosa, only giving up 13 points and 10 of them coming in garbage time. OSU looks great and continues its ways before a tough Penn State battle in a week.

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Max Littman

Ohio State 63, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 123

This game will be so sad, I don’t even feel the need to make any Mardi Gras related puns here. Haskins gets 4 or 5 more TDs, Tate plays the entire second half, and Urban’s first game back is a cake walk.

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Brett Ludwiczak

Ohio State 59, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 177

Thirty-eight points might seem like a lot until you remember that the Buckeyes beat Oregon State by 46 points and Rutgers by 49 points. Tulane is better than Rutgers, but not quite as good as Oregon State right now. Ohio State will have some extra motivation in Urban Meyer’s return, and I can see Haskins throwing a couple touchdowns, while Weber and Dobbins each run for over 100 yards.

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Patrick Mayhorn

Ohio State 62, Tulane 24
Season Point Total: 175

Tulane’s offense is good enough to give Ohio State’s questionable defense some issues, but Ohio State overall is just way too talented for this to be a close game for more than a half. Tulane gets a couple of big plays, but it’s not nearly enough, as Ohio State’s offense puts on a show all game long.

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Chad Peltier

Ohio State 59, Tulane 17
Season Point Total: 123

Tulane’s defense won’t offer much of a challenge for Ohio State. Tulane ranks 79th in defensive S&P+ overall and is best at limiting big plays and finishing drives, so their best hope is to force a lot of stalled drives that result in field goals. Apart from a stalled drive or two, I don’t see that happening.

The more interesting matchup is against the Tulane offense, which is kind of like a modernized triple option, incorporating the shotgun, RPOs, tempo, and more passing than a typical option team. They’re entirely boom-or-bust, excelling in big plays, but rarely achieving any level of consistency, making them an interesting matchup for an Ohio State defense that has been known to allow a big play or three a game this season.

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Matt Tamanini

Ohio State 58, Tulane 13
Season Point Total: 179

It will likely be a short, but productive, day for Ohio State’s offense, as they will get at most a half to readjust to having Urban Meyer back on the sideline, before turning the reins over to the backups to avoid any injuries before heading into the Penn State game next week. With the injury to Nick Bosa, we could see the defense on the field a little more, as they work on getting the right mix, but even though Tulane has big-play ability, it won’t be nearly enough to hang around for long.

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Dan Vest

Ohio State 62, Tulane 10
Season Point Total: 175

If you are behind on your family time this fall, Saturday evening might be a good chance to catch up. The backups will be in early in the third quarter so get out Candyland or something and bond with your kid while you watch the end of the game. It’ll keep them from focusing too hard on what will be the college football version of a snuff film.

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Ok, after three weeks, let’s take a look as to how are staff’s picks are looking.

So, to recap our oddly overly complicated scoring system:

Correct Winner Prediction: 75 points
Perfect Prediction Bonus: 25 points
Point Total Deductions: Subtract 1 point for every point off total score (cap 25 points)