Ohio State and Texas kick off in the Cotton Bowl tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET with live coverage of the College Football semifinal on ESPN.
Below we’ve got Ohio State vs. Texas best bets, player props, and anytime TD scorers, but first check out these welcome offers from the best sports betting sites.
Best player prop & anytime TD scorer bets for Ohio State vs. Texas in Cotton Bowl
Here are our top player props and ATTD scorer bets for the Cotton Bowl:
Ohio State QB Will Howard UNDER passing yards
This might seem a bit contrarian given that Howard torched both Tennessee and Oregon for more than 300 passing yards in the College Football Playoff, but the Longhorns are much stingier against the pass.
Expect some regression here against a Texas secondary that features Thorpe Award winner Jahdae Barron as the top defensive back in the country, along with safeties Andrew Mukuba and Michael Taaffe.
Fun fact: Texas allowed just one quarterback to throw for more than 200 yards this season. That was Michigan’s Davis Warren back in Week 2. Warren ended up with 204 yards, one TD, and two interceptions in a 31-12 loss to the Longhorns.
Texas has the No. 3 passing defense in the nation. It allows just 166.1 passing yards per game. The Longhorns have given up just eight passing TDs on the season.
Texas QB Quinn Ewers UNDER passing yards
Like Howard, Ewers has performed well in the CFP. His two incredible TD passes in overtime kept Texas afloat against Arizona State in the quarterfinals. He threw for 300+ yards, three TDs and a pick.
Also like Howard, Ewers faces an exceptional defense and secondary this week. Ohio State owns the No. 1 passing defense in America, yielding only 152.4 yards per game. The Buckeyes have allowed only six TD catches all season long.
For his part, Ewers has averaged 245.3 passing yards per game. Only Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel fared well against Ohio State this season. The Buckeyes held Penn State’s Drew Allar to 146 passing yards, no TDs, and a pick. That bodes well for a potential meeting with the Nittany Lions in the national championship game.
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Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith ATTD scorer
With all due respect to the Texas secondary, Smith has been unstoppable in the CFP. He had two TD grabs against both Tennessee and Oregon.
Smith leads Ohio State with 15 total TDs on the season, averaging more than one per game. We like him to get loose at least once against the vaunted Texas defense.
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