NCAA Football Betting – Texas Longhorns vs. Oklahoma Sooners
This time the Red River Rivalry has additional meaning, as the Oklahoma Sooners (5-0 SU, 4-0 ATS) face off against the Texas Longhorns (5-0 SU & ATS) in a Big 12 contest that has both conference and national title implications. The action gets underway at Noon ET at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas.
Saturday, October 11
BetUS NCAA Football Betting Odds: OKLAHOMA -6.5, Total 56.5
Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:
* TEX has won and covered its last six games
* TEX has covered four of its last five road games
* TEX has won 19 of its last 21 road games SU
* TEX has played 14 of its last 18 road games OVER the total
* OKLA has covered six of its last seven games
* OKLA has won its last five games SU
* OKLA has won 22 of its last 24 home games SU
* OKLA has won six of the last eight meetings SU
Oklahoma’s offense has been incredibly productive, with a plethora of wide receivers to provide balance and the running of DeMarco Murray, who has been very solid if not sensational (431 yards, 5 ypc). But the catalyst is quarterback Sam Bradford, who deserved Heisman consideration as a freshman and has demonstrated that he is a very capable trigger man for the Sooners’ no-huddle offense in his sophomore year. Bradford is second in the nation in passing efficiency, completing 72% of his passes with 18 touchdowns and just three interceptions. Bradford’s 12 yards an attempt ranks third behind only David Johnson of Tulsa and Zac Robinson of Oklahoma State.
Of course, when you talk about passing efficiency, Colt McCoy of Texas is not very far behind. McCoy, who beefed up in the off-season, got healthy and took a more serious approach, has an astronomical 79% completion rate with 16 TD passes. On top of that, he leads the ‘Horns in rushing with 63 yards a game. So he’s a guy who can make a claim to Heisman candidacy. But that latter statistic also illustrates an inherent weakness of what the Longhorns are doing on offense, which is that, unlike Oklahoma, they don’t have that major running threat who can take the ball from coast-to-coast at any time. Cody Johnson and Vondrell McGee have seven touchdowns between them, but less than four yards a carry.
Texas has allowed just 259 rushing yards, TOTAL, on the season, but by the same token, they haven’t faced teams who are known to be able to move the ball on the ground. So this is the toughest challenge for both the defensive front and the secondary. So the nation’s leading sack unit (19 on the year) had better get to Bradford early and often. We don’t think they will, because the Sooner OL protects Bradford pretty well. Overall, we like the offensive balance of Oklahoma and figure that if either QB is going to make one more telling mistake than the other, it’s probably McCoy, throwing into the teeth of the nation’s top-ranked passing efficiency defense.
We’ll lay the points with Oklahoma, the 6.5-point favorite in the BetUS NCAA college football betting odds.
