The Toledo Rockets take on the Ohio State Buckeyes. Check out our college football odds series for our Toledo Ohio State prediction and pick.

Ohio State fans and a lot of national analysts took note of what happened in Week 2. No, they weren't focused on Ohio State's 45-12 win over Arkansas State. They noticed that Notre Dame lost at home to Marshall, scoring just 21 points and surrendering a late pick-six in an ugly performance. When Ohio State beat Notre Dame in a close, hard-fought game in Week 1, it seemed like an accomplishment, given that Notre Dame was a preseason top-10 team which figured to be really good this year. Now that Notre Dame isn't nearly as good as the preseason projections suggested, people are wondering how good Ohio State truly is. It's a fair question, precisely the kind of debate which emerges in September when preseason evaluations don't pan out for certain teams.

Ohio State has a lot of work to do in terms of making sure everyone sees the Buckeyes as a legitimate top-five-level team. The game on Saturday against Toledo won't be a season-defining game, but it will shape the conversation heading into Big Ten Conference action for the rest of the season. Ohio State has a big primetime game with Wisconsin in Week 4, on the other side of this game against Toledo. Getting a rhythm and finding elite form are certainly on head coach Ryan Day's priority list for this game against an MAC opponent.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Toledo-Ohio State College Football odds.

College Football Odds: Toledo-Ohio State Odds

Toledo Rockets: +31.5 (-106)

Ohio State Buckeyes: -31.5 (-114)

Over: 62.5 (-106)

Under: 62.5 (-114)

Why Toledo Could Cover the Spread

Ohio State is a very talented team, and no one questions that, but OSU scored just 21 on a Notre Dame team which lost to Marshall. The Buckeyes beat Arkansas State by 33 points, which is a fairly modest point spread given the talent disparity between the two sides. We haven't yet seen the Ohio State team which completely boatraced and embarrassed Michigan State last November and could have scored 80 points in that game if it really wanted to. We haven't seen C.J. Stroud completely obliterate an opposing defense this season; he did so against Utah in the Rose Bowl, but we haven't seen that version of the Buckeyes' offense in this new campaign. If they don't reach that higher level of performance, Toledo can cover the very large point spread.

Why Ohio State Could Cover the Spread

After seemingly being in second gear the first few weeks of the season, and getting to know how all the new parts work together on offense, it's time for this offense to truly unleash its weaponry and its potential. We should see Ohio State score in the high 50s or low 60s, in which case it should definitely cover the spread, given how good the Buckeye defense has been under new coordinator Jim Knowles. Ohio State hasn't allowed more than 12 points in a game this season. It's time for the offense to score more than 50 and show this is indeed a complete team with College Football Playoff-level quality.

Final Toledo-Ohio State Prediction & Pick

The Ohio State offense will figure things out and score at least 56 points. That will be enough to cover the spread against Toledo in Week 3.

Final Toledo-Ohio State Prediction & Pick: Ohio State -31.5