ESPN College GameDay host Rece Davis is siding with No. 2 Ohio State in its Halloween night trip to USC, even with a true freshman quarterback likely making his first career start against coach Lincoln Riley’s Trojans.

Davis made his pick on the College GameDay Podcast, betting star receiver Jeremiah Smith helps Ohio State end a regular-season drought at the Coliseum that dates to 1946. “I’ll take the Buckeyes,” Davis said after USC’s 24-7 loss at Wisconsin pushed him off the Trojans’ bandwagon.

Rece Davis picks Ohio State at USC

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Davis isn’t sold on the 6-1 Buckeyes yet. “Ohio State comes in ranked second in the nation and, at least to my way of thinking, a bit of a placeholder until I see what they’ve got at quarterback,” he said.

He does like the setup for true freshman Luke Fahey, whose paternal grandparents met as students at Ohio State .

“Fahey is a Southern California kid. I believe his grandparents actually met at Ohio State.…