The Texas Longhorns head into Stillwater to face-off against the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday, October 1st at Noon ET. The contest at Boone Pickens Stadium will be televised on ABC. The Cowboys are -2.5 point favorites and the over/under currently rests at 71.
Both clubs are coming into this game off of loses that they suffered in week three. The Longhorns fell to the Cal Bears in a shoot out 50-43 and failed to cover as seven point favorites. Oklahoma State also came up short against the Baylor Bears 35-24 and failed to cover the seven as a dog.
#25 Texas Longhorns (2-1):
Texas conceded 50 points for the second time just three games into their 2016 season. Now they get to face an Oklahoma State team that is averaging over 44 points at home. This will be another stiff test for a porous Longhorn defense. On the flip side to that coin, Texas has scored over 40 points in all three of their matches.
Quarterback Shane Buechele returns to the Longhorn line-up on Saturday after exited last week’s game because of a chest injury. Texas runs the ball twice as much as they throw it but when called upon, the freshman has performed well. Buechele has accumulated 720 yards on 57 completions with seven touchdowns and two picks.
The Longhorns love to pound the rock and they use D’Onta Foreman and Chris Warren III to do it. Together, they have ran for almost 550 yards on nearly 100 carries and have reached pay-dirt six times.
Back-up quarterback Tyrone Swoops steps in for the Wildcat formations and uses his size and athleticism to get the tough yards. He has been rewarded in the end zone on three different occasions.
Four wide receivers all pitch in equally to move the chains through the air. Combined, they have reeled in 45 passes for almost 700 yards and another six scores. All are capable blockers and play a big roll when the Longhorns turn to their play-action.
Texas’s defense has been atrocious giving way to over 34 points a game. That embarrassing statistic places them at 108th in the nation. The Longhorns aren’t effective against the run or the pass, so their work will be cut out for them this weekend.
Oklahoma State (2-2):
Oklahoma State will have plenty of chances to make some big plays against a sloppy Longhorn defense. The Cowboy’s rifleman Mason Rudolph, couldn’t muster up a touchdown against the Baylor Bears, but that should change on Saturday.
Mason Rudolph hopes to get back on track and start padding those already impressive numbers this weekend. Rudolph hasn’t been shy when it comes to distributing the football around the field. He has thrown for almost 1,300 yards and six touchdowns.
In contrast to their opponent this weekend, the Cowboys like to pass instead of run the football. When they do hand the ball off, Justice Hill and Rennie Childs carry the load. Hill has 214 yards on 43 carries for a score and Childs adds another 158 yards and six touchdowns to the mix.
Three talented receivers are involved in the Cowboy’s passing attack. They are led by junior James Washington. So far, Washington has racked-up 25 catches for almost 500 yards and three scores.
Oklahoma State’s Big-12 defense is another work in progress. The Cowboys are allowing almost 28 points a game because they are giving up well over 400 yards a contest. They have found some limited success against the run, holding teams to 145 yards a game. That figure could balloon by the end of Saturday’s game.
Trends and Notes:
The Longhorns are 1-5 ATS in their last 6 road games.
The Over is 5-2 in the Longhorns last 7 games overall.
The Cowboys are 0-4 ATS in their last 4 conference games.
The Over is 8-3 in the Cowboys last 11 games overall.
The road team is 9-0 ATS in their last 9 meetings.
Game Prediction:
Both of these schools like to score a lot of points and both have their own way of getting that done. The Longhorn’s pound the ball, gashing defenses for big gains while setting up the secondary for big play-action passes.
The Cowboys throw the ball around early and often, capitalizing on their one on one match-ups. After the opposing secondary has had enough, they sit back and Oklahoma State takes advantage via the ground.
There should be plenty of offense in this game so the high total of 71 shouldn’t scare bettors away. The road teams also fair very well in the rivalry, so the Longhorns as a dog look mighty tasty. The safe bet is it should be a closely contested battle, so the fourth quarter should supply enough points to hit that over.
Sit back, have a cold one, and watch these two teams go up and down the field. The over 71 is the play from GMS.
