Arizona at Oklahoma State Line
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Arizona Wildcats and ninth-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys meet up Thursday night in a battle between two of the most explosive offenses in the country. Each is coming off a blowout victory Saturday, and both will be playing on short rest. This is a rematch from last year’s Alamo Bowl, which was won 36-10 by Oklahoma State. It will also be nationally televised on ESPN at 8:00 EST.
According to the odds, Oklahoma State is listed as a 14-point favorite with a total set of 65 points.
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys are coming off a 61-34 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in their opener. After finishing third in the FBS at 520.2 total yards/game in 2010, Oklahoma State reeled off an FBS-best 666 total yards Saturday. Brandon Weeden threw for the second-most yards in the country (388) in the victory to go along with three touchdown passes. He did throw a career-worst three interceptions though, two of which were returned for touchdowns.
Justin Blackmon was once again his favorite target as the 2010 Biletnikoff award winner caught eight balls for 144 yards. He now has 13 straight 100-yard receiving games, which is an NCAA record. Freshman running back Joseph Randle had an impressive debut, rushing for 129 yards and two scores. The defense played better than the final score would indicate, giving up 320 total yards to Louisiana-Lafayette. They’ll certainly be tested against the Wildcats Thursday.
Arizona
No quarterback played better than Nick Foles in Week 1. The senior quarterback threw for an FBS-high 412 yards in Arizona’s 41-10 win over Northern Arizona. His five touchdown passes were tied for the most of any QB in the country, and his 202.6 passer efficiency rating was a career high. He also had a favorite target like Blackmon last year in Juron Criner, who led the Pac-10 with 1,233 receiving yards. Criner caught six balls Saturday for 151 yards and a touchdown.
Foles and Criner will be looking to erase some bad memories when they face the Cowboys for the second time in less than a year. In their 36-10 loss in the Alamo Bowl, Foles threw three interceptions while Criner finished with just 47 receiving yards. This offense could have its hands full against an Oklahoma State starting defense that only surrendered two field goals last week. Arizona’s defense was expected to take a step back this year with such little experience returning, but they showed no signs of it Saturday. The Wildcats limited Northern Arizona to 259 total yards.
Betting Trends
The Wildcats are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games as an underdog of 10.5 or greater. Obviously, this team has shown well lately when listed as a double-digit dog. Something has to give Thursday as Oklahoma State has been excellent in the role of the favorite.
The Cowboys are 41-17-2 ATS in their last 60 games as a favorite, including 24-9 ATS in their last 33 games as a favorite of 10.5 or greater.
Oklahoma State has been an OVERS machine at home, with the OVER going 41-15 in the Cowboys last 56 home games. The UNDER is 5-2 in Arizona’s last seven non-conference games, which is about the only trend working in favor of the UNDER in this one.
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