Friday night games are always difficult to pick. I don’t think they inherently favor favorites or underdogs, nor is there an obvious advantage for the home or road team. The short week simply introduces another variable that can bring more entropy into a game that’s already difficult to predict.
One thing we can say with confidence is that OSU’s defense is not strong. They have shown flashes in run defense and pass defense at times, but rarely against good opponents and never at the same time. Most recently, they have put up respectable numbers against the run versus Arizona and Cal, but the Cats still scored 38 and Cal’s offense has gone completely off track without Chase Garbers.