College Football Lines: Texas vs Baylor

Written November 11, 2009 by Hector Garza

Bodog currently has a 10% Signup BONUS for all those interested in betting college football. The #2 ranked team in the country is looking for another win this week as they travel to take on the 4-5 Bears of Baylor. With three more regular season victories, Texas will be playing in the Big 12 championship, and afterwards hopes to be headed for a national title against what looks to be the winner of the SEC. This week’s game is set to kickoff at noon ET and the college football odds favor Texas heavily by 24 points with the total set at 51.

Baylor proved last week that despite not having their all star QB Robert Griffin, they can still win games. Playing Missouri on the road they posted the 40-32 win, their first in conference play. True Freshman Nick Florence was named Big 12 player of the week after throwing for 427 yards and 3 td’s. He’s coming off his best game and will need that type of performance again to stand a chance against the Longhorns. The ground game for the Bears is done by committee, and has accounted for 14 of the 26 scores this year.

A big reason that Baylor was able to secure their only conference win was their strong play against the run, even if it was for only one week. In 25 attempts they gave up a total of 10 yards rushing! On the year both units haven’t been performing well, but their secondary has been hurting them the most. They’ve given up a total of 238 ypg in the air and the unit as a whole has allowed 23 td’s. Through 5 Big 12 games, they’ve only forced 3 turnovers. Against the juggernaut that is Texas, those numbers have to get turned around. Betfirms has many more great game previews and expert football picks.

The Longhorns are entering this week undefeated behind Heisman hopeful Colt McCoy. On the year Colt has thrown 17 td’s for 2447 yards, an impressive clip of over 270 ypg! Jordan Shipley has turned into an excellent wide receiver. He leads the team in receptions (75), yards (1050), avg (14.0 ypc) and scores (6). The longhorns have 4 RB’s with over 40 carries and have scored 20 of their 37 td’s on the ground.

While the offense has averaged 431 ypg, the defense has been dominant allowing a measly 12.4 ppg. They’ve been strongest against the run as they’re leading the nation at 55.3 ypg. Their pass defense is also good and has intercepted opponents 16 times and have amassed a total of 26 takeaways. Last week they gave up 151 total yards to an inferior UCF team, and tallied 7 sacks.

Head Coach Mack Brown has his team playing excellent football on both sides of the ball. The defense can overwhelm opponents and the offense is balanced through the air and on the ground. Despite being overmatched, Baylor has the homefield advantage and is starting to play well, which means they could cover the 24 point spread. Don’t look for the Bears to get their 2nd conference win against Texas, and check out Betfirms for more expert football picks.