The 7th ranked Oklahoma Sooners look to keep a share of the Big 12 lead as they take on the Texas Tech Red Raiders at the Jones AT&T Stadium in Lubbock, Texas on 11/3/18.
Since losing to Texas, Oklahoma has won two games in a row while putting up at least 51 points per game. Meanwhile, Texas Tech saw its two games winning streak halted by Iowa State last week.
After losing to Texas three weeks ago, fate is no longer in the hands of the Sooners as far as winning the Big 12 title is concerned. They are tied at 4-1 with Texas and West Virginia but if WVU beats Texas on Saturday and Oklahoma University wins its remaining games and stay on top of the Big 12 standings, they will win the Big 12 crown.
Junior quarterback Kyler Murray will be the key for the Sooners. Murray has passed for a total of 2,329 yards this season with 28 scores and only three picks. Murray ranks second in the nation in pass efficiency, third in touchdowns scored and 7th in passing yards. During the Sooners’ 51-14 shellacking of Kansas State last week, Murray threw for 352 yards with three passing touchdowns and scored one running TD as well.
The Texas Tech Red Raiders are tied for 4th spot in the Big 12 but are only down by one game against the current division leaders with WVU and Texas playing each other on Saturday. A win over the Sooners helps them catch up in the Big 12 race but as we know, that is much easier said than done.
Freshman quarterback Alan Bowman threw three interceptions during the Red Raiders’ loss to Iowa State. After opening the season with 8 scores and zero pickoffs, Bowman’s performance has hit a snag as he’s had a 7:7 TD:Interception ratio in the month of October. But while he’s facing a Heisman candidate in Murray, he will also be matched up against Oklahoma’s pass defense which is only ranked 75th in the nation.
Oklahoma is 15-2 SU in their last 17 games played and 13-1 SU in their last 14 games played on the road. Texas Tech is 3-6 SU in their last 9 games at home but 5-2 SU in their last 7 games overall. Head to head, the Sooners are 5-0 SU in the last 5 meetings between these two teams.
Oklahoma’s passing game is ranked 13th in the nation with its 311 yards per game average and it has delivered a total of 29 touchdowns with just three picks. They will be facing a Texas Tech pass defense that is ranked 118th in college football and one that has given up 17 scores in 8 games. Murray has completed 73% of his passes. I think he’s going to have a field day here.
Since Oklahoma gave the pink slip to Defensive Coordinator Mike Stoops three weeks ago, their defense has allowed a season best total yards allowed in back to back games. With their air offense probably headed to a big game and their defense clicking lately, I think the Sooners got this. We’re picking the Oklahoma Sooners to beat the Texas Tech Red Raiders on 11/3/18.
The Sooners are 4-2 ATS in their last six games overall against Texas Tech but are 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games on the road against Texas Tech. The Red Raiders are also 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
Oklahoma has beaten Texas Tech in eight out of their last 10 meetings and the average score in those 10 games is 46.0 to 30.30 in favor of the Sooners. Both these teams are capable of scoring big time but the question is can Texas Tech get the needed stops to keep the game close? The Red Raiders allowed Iowa State to gain 422 yards and score 40 points when they were only ranked 99th in the nation in total offense with 396 yards per game. If they could not stop Iowa State, what more for Oklahoma? Prediction: Oklahoma -13.
The total has gone over in 7 out of the last 9 games played by Oklahoma and the total has gone over in five out of their last 6 games played on the road. The over is also 4-2 in the last six games of Texas Tech and the over is also 6-1 in the last seven games played between these two teams with an average score of 81.57.
Both Oklahoma and Texas Tech rank in the Top 10 in total offense at better than 528 yards per game. The Sooners have scored at least 50 points in their last three wins and are averaging 49 points in their last four games. Texas Tech has put up at least 30 points in six out of their last 7 games. These two teams are averaging over 40 points per game this season. Prediction: Over 76.5
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