Oklahoma Oklahoma State Betting – The Bedlam Series Will Decide Big 12 South Title
The Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys hate each other with a burning passion. They will also play this Saturday for a division championship.
NCAA football betting: Oklahoma Sooners @ Oklahoma State Cowboys
Online Betting Odds: Oklahoma State -2.5</p>
Why To Bet On Oklahoma
The Sooners aren’t a complete team, but they finally played a very strong game on the road this past Saturday in a 53-24 demolition of a solid and talented Baylor Bears ball club. Oklahoma quarterback Landry Jones had been very unsteady on the road this year, committing several damaging mistakes in losses at the Missouri Tigers and the Texas A&M Aggies that placed the Sooners’ Big 12 championship hopes in jeopardy. However, against Baylor, Jones was consistent. He threw only one interception and made up for that isolated gaffe by hitting two-thirds of his passes for over 300 yards. Jones hit running back DeMarco Murray on a perfect swing pass for an early touchdown that got Oklahoma’s offense rolling against the bewildered Bears. The pass hit Murray in stride and fed Murray’s downfield momentum, enabling him to turn the corner and outrace Baylor linebackers to the boundary. Murray then sped up the sideline and motored past Baylor’s safeties to score. The pass, if it had been slightly behind Murray, would have slowed down the play and prevented Murray from getting a gain of more than 10 yards, but because it was right on the money, the Sooners got the early score they needed. Jones would not have converted that pass at Texas A&M, but he corrected his mistakes and looks to be mentally tough enough to handle one more road game. That’s really the biggest key to this showdown in Stillwater, Oklahoma: Can Landry Jones deliver the goods? It seems he’s ready… or at least, a lot more ready to do the deed than he was a few weeks ago.
Why To Bet On Oklahoma State
The big reason to pick the Cowboys in this game is a matter of attrition in Oklahoma’s linebacking corps. The Sooners’ best linebacker, Austin Box, who has been battling a lot of bumps and bruises throughout the 2010 season, will almost certainly play this week, but he slightly re-aggravated an old back injury this past weekend against Baylor. Oklahoma needs Box to be active and influential at middle linebacker; otherwise, Oklahoma State and offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen – who have flourished this season – will pick apart the Sooners’ linebackers and get mismatches in both the running game and the passing game. Oklahoma’s defense has been very vulnerable for much of 2010, and that’s largely because Box has not been able to stay healthy for extended periods of time. Those persistent back problems prevented him from being an every-down player until Nov. 13 against Texas Tech. Not surprisingly, Oklahoma allowed just seven points in that game. There are many questions about the legitimacy of the Sooners’ defense. If Box isn’t able to run all over the field, Oklahoma State has a huge advantage.
How The Game Will Play Out
Austin Box will play reasonably well, and Landry Jones will play extremely well. Oklahoma gained confidence and momentum just in time for this game, and that good vibe from the Sooners’ locker room will carry over into this contest. Take the Sooners in the de facto battle for the Big 12 South.
