No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowboys at No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies (-4), Total 69 |
Oklahoma State opens up its 2011 Big 12 Conference season in traveling on the road for a second consecutive week to College Station. The Cowboys came away with a 59-33 win over Tulsa the previous week as 13.5-point road favorites, while going over the posted total of 67.
A lot has been made of the team’s last contest ending at 3:35 a.m. due to weather delays, but quarterback Brandon Weeden seems confident in the team’s ability to overcome it. “I feel great and I feel like it is behind us,” he commented during practice this week. “Ultimately, the tough times are behind and it’s time to focus on Texas A&M.”
The Cowboys trail in this series, 17-9, but are riding a three-game winning streak against the Aggies. Oklahoma State escaped with a 38-35 home win in last year’s game as 2.5-point home favorites, while the past three meeting have all gone over the total.
Playing away from Stillwater use to be a major concern for this team, but the Cowboys have won 10 of their last 11 road games. It comes into the week with the third-longest road win streak in the nation.
Dating back to the 2002 meeting, only 12 points separate the two teams in cumulative scoring. Seven times since 1997, the teams have played games within five points or less.
Quarterback Brandon Weeden enters leading the country with 384.7 passing yards per game, entering as the only signal-caller who has reached at least 360 passing yards in every game during the 2011 campaign.
The senior is 14-2 as a starter, including 7-0 away from Boone Pickens Stadium, while throwing a touchdown pass in 14 of his 16 starts.
His main target is Justin Blackmon, who has caught 129 passes and scored 25 touchdowns through the air in his last 15 games. He’s a deep-ball threat due to 13 of this last 23 touchdown catches being 20 yards or longer.
sportsbook players will find that Oklahoma State is 1-4 ATS as an underdog over the last two-plus seasons and the ‘under’ is 3-2 in those betting prediction contests.
Texas A&M will be hosting a game with two top 10 teams inside Kyle Field for the first time in 36 years. The Aggies will also be playing their Big 12 opener, coming off a 37-7 victory over the Idaho Vandals as 36-point home favorites.
One of the many strengths for this program during the 2011 campaign has been getting after the quarterback, leading the nation with 5.5 sacks per game. It’s a major advantage considering their offensive line has yet to allow a sack on the other side.
All five of the Aggies’ starters on the offensive line weight over 300 pounds, averaging 307.8, which is the heaviest group in school history.
The defensive line has led the charge in tallying 7.5 of the 11 sacks this year, with none coming from the position that linebacker Von Miller played a year ago. Last year, 17 of the team’s 30 sacks came from that alignment.
Success was expected in College Station this year, as the program returned one of the more experienced teams in the nation, as 18 of 22 starters came back. The Aggies also brought back a whopping 60 lettermen.
Offensively, quarterback Ryan Tannehill is putting up solid numbers, coming away with his second career game of over 300 yards last week. He will simply need to manage the game and utilize his talented backfield.
Cyrus Gray is the main weapon, rushing for more than 100 yards in nine straight games, which is just shy of the school record.
The Aggies will take comfort in knowing that they out-gained the Cowboys by a 535-351 margin in last year’s meeting, falling short due to committing five turnovers.
college football betting fans will find that the Aggies are 10-5 ATS versus conference opponents and the ‘over’ is 10-6 over that span.
Playing the over may be the best play on the odds board, as these two teams have gone over the number in six of seven meetings.
