Colorado at Oklahoma State Odds
Written by Kyle Hunter - Google +
The Colorado Buffaloes have had a season to forget, but the Oklahoma State Cowboys are having a pretty successful season. Even without suspended star receiver Dez Bryant the Cowboys have gone 8-2 and could still play in a very good bowl game. Colorado’s Dan Hawkins may well be on his way out if his team doesn’t step up in a big way over their last couple of games.
Oklahoma State has just two losses on the season, defeats at the hands of Texas and Houston, both at home. Zac Robinson is the senior leader of the Cowboys offense. Robinson is very capable of making plays with his feet when he needs to, but he usually uses his arm. On the year he has thrown 14 touchdowns compared to just 4 interceptions. A nice surprise for Oklahoma State has been running back Keith Toston. Toston has almost 1,000 yards on the season and is averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Toston is also a threat to catch the ball out of the backfield, as he has done 22 times this season. Perrish Cox gives the Cowboys a talented kick and punt returner that helps them have solid field position most of the time. The biggest improvement for this year’s team though has been the defense. The defense of the Cowboys is holding their opponents to 20.6 points per game and a very impressive 89.6 rushing yards per game.
The Colorado Buffaloes changed quarterbacks in the middle of the season this year, with coach Dan Hawkins benching his son Cody in favor of Tyler Hansen. Hansen has been more consistent by completing 57% of his passes, but the team’s struggles have continued. It isn’t fair to put all the blame on the quarterbacks though, because Colorado has had virtually no running game this season, averaging 90.8 yards per game on the ground. Scotty McKnight is a solid wide receiver that has 62 catches already on the season for Colorado. The defense for Colorado has looked good at times, but they are very inconsistent. The defense has been weak against the run and is allowing about 29 points per game so far this season.
The lines for this weekend show Thursday’s game as Oklahoma State -18. The Cowboys getting 18 points at home shouldn’t be a surprise against a team that has performed so badly. Those who have made picks against Colorado on the road of late have done very well as Colorado is just 6-15 against the spread in their last 21 road games. Oklahoma State is 9-2 against the spread in their last 11 games at home as the favorite.
If Colorado is going to stay in this game the defense will have to show up in a big way. Simply put it would be shocking to see the Buffaloes be able to move the ball much at all on the ground, so it will be on the arm of Tyler Hansen. Expect the Cowboys to put a lot of pressure on the youngster and rattle him a little. Robinson and Toston should have a good amount of success against a weak defensive front for Colorado.
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