Oklahoma State at Texas Longhorns Pick

Outlook for Saturday Night Kickoff

Oklahoma State puts their perfect record on the line against Texas, and in the first Big 12 game for both teams, the Longhorns are a 5-point home favorite. Texas lost to Oklahoma State 38-35 on the road in a shootout last season and will look to avenge that loss. They have two blowout wins on the season, and their one loss was a tough 45-38 loss to a top 10 LSU team. They regrouped in their last game crushing Rice 48-13 where they racked up 509 yards of total offense. Oklahoma State is 3-0, and they have put up big numbers ranking 9th in the nation averaging 50 ppg but are the Cowboys that good? This game may show that, as their three wins came against Oregon State, who are the weakest team in the Pac 12, McNeese State, and Tulsa. Last season the Cowboys were 3-1 facing top 25 teams including beating two top 10 teams with one of them being Texas. Oklahoma State has won the last four games between these teams, and they have also won their last five games facing the Longhorns in the Lone Star State. They are the only team in the history of college football that has five wins against the Longhorns in their house. How the Public is Betting the Oklahoma State vs. Texas Game The public has been backing Oklahoma State in this game, as they opened as a 9.5-point underdog and now are only a 5-point underdog as of Wednesday. The high total of 73 points has not changed since opening.

Injury Concerns

Oklahoma State: Oklahoma State comes into this big game relatively healthy, as the only player on the injury report is LB Calvin Bundage, who is out indefinitely with a back injury. Texas: Texas has been hit by the injury bug already with several players out indefinitely including the RB duo of Daniel Young and Kirk Johnson. DB Demarvion Overshown has been downgraded to out for this game, and WR Collin Johnson is listed as probable.

When Oklahoma State Has the Ball

Oklahoma State has been a passing first team for some time, but they have more balance this season ranking 9th in the nation in rushing yards per game and 49th in passing yards per game. In their last match, they beat Tulsa 40-21 where they had 505 total yards and relied on the run more to the tune of 337 rushing yards. Chuba Hubbard is a player the Longhorns really have to worry about, as he rushed for 256 yards in the win over Tulsa and it was his 2nd game of the season rushing for at least 221 yards. Freshman QB Spencer Sanders has been solid so far in his first one at the helm for OSU with 622 yards with seven TD and one INT, and he did not have a big game against Tulsa, as he did not have to with the Cowboys running the ball so well. Texas has issues against the pass, and in the loss, to LSU they gave up 471 passing yards.

When Texas Has the Ball

Texas is led more by the pass on the season, as they rank a solid 10th in the nation in passing yards per game but only 86th in rushing yards per game. Sam Ehlinger has passed for 956 yards on the season, and he is only one of three QB’s in the FBS that has at least 10 TD and no INT. He has a solid WR corps led by Collin Johnson, who has a minor hamstring injury but is listed as probable for this game, and Devin Duvernay, who had 154 receiving yards in the loss to LSU. Keaontay Ingram leads the Longhorns with 181 rushing yards this season, and in the two wins, he rushed for at least 74 yards while in the loss to LSU he only rushed for 29 yards averaging 2.9 yards per carry. Ehlinger is the 2nd leading rusher with 121 yards and while his arm is the strength of the offense Texas will look to establish the run facing an Oklahoma State defense that gave up 158 rushing yards in the win over Tulsa.

Betting Trends

Oklahoma State has covered the spread in all three of their games this season and has covered in their last four overall. While the favorite is 8-2 ATS in the previous ten games between these Big 12 rivals the Cowboys have covered in five of their last six games at Texas and the road team is 9-3 ATS in the last 12 meetings. Texas is 2-1 ATS on the season only failing to cover the spread against LSU in the 7-point loss where they were 6.5-point underdogs. They covered the 32-point spread in their last game, which was a 48-13 blowout win over rice, but the Longhorns have failed to cover in five of their last six games following a victory. Not much scoring in the last seven games between these teams at Texas with an Under record of 6-0-1.

Weather Report

The forecast for Saturday is a high of 94 degrees and a low of 75 degrees, and with a 7:30 kickoff it will be on the cooler side but still nice. There are calls for isolated showers in the morning, and later in the day and evening, there is a 30% chance of rain.