Baldwin Wallace's 5-0 start undersells the gap on Marietta

Marietta's 3-2 record looks respectable on its own, especially with both losses coming against teams with winning records this season, but the Versus ratings tell a sharper story once Baldwin Wallace enters the picture. The Yellow Jackets sit at 5-0, a mark Versus notes is the best record in college football right now, and they have cracked the top 5 in Division III for the first time in the model's records, ranking 3rd in power and 1st in offense with a grade of A+ across the board.

Marietta is a solid Division III side in its own right, graded A- on both sides of the ball and coming off a stretch in which it has outscored its recent opponents while going 3-2. That form has it 61st in the division, 56 spots behind Baldwin Wallace's No. 5 ranking, and the difference shows most clearly on defense, where Baldwin Wallace's 11th ranked unit should have the tools to slow a Pioneers offense that sits 50th.

This is a game that counts in the Ohio Athletic Conference standings, and Versus projects Baldwin Wallace to win by 21, with the Yellow Jackets favored in 89 percent of simulations. Marietta's recent scoring trend gives it a path to stay competitive, but the projection points to Baldwin Wallace's offense carrying the day, 39 to 18.