Iowa State at Oklahoma Picks
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Oklahoma Sooners are sitting at 5-0 this season, and after a win over Texas in the Red River Rivalry, they are a clear-cut national title contender. Oklahoma is coming off a bye week, so they’ve had some extra time to prepare to face the 3-3 Iowa State Cyclones. The odds for this game show us Oklahoma -23.5 over Iowa State with a total set of 58 points.
Historically, Oklahoma has been dominant under Bob Stoops when coming off the Texas game and on a Bye. The game following Texas, Oklahoma is a perfect 11-0 under Stoops. They won 35-13 at Kansas last year even with Sam Bradford and several others watching from the sidelines. Oklahoma is 14-3 following an off week, including 12-0 at home with Stoops at the helm as well. The No. 6 Sooners hope that they can have that same kind of fortune this year when they face the Cyclones.
The key this year for the Sooners is that they have managed to stay healthy. Bradford, TD Jermaine Gresham, WR Ryan Broyles and RB DeMarco Murray all missed significant time last year due to injury. In 2010, defensive tackle Casey Walker is the only player on their two-deep roster who is out this week. Plus, the Sooners expect to get LB Austin Box and RB Roy Finch back on the field after missing the first five games of the season.
QB Landry Jones is having a great year so far. Jones has completed 64% of his passes for 1,457 yards and 11 touchdowns to 3 interceptions. His favorite target has clearly been Broyles, who has 46 catches for 518 yards and 4 touchdowns. Broyles is averaging 103.6 yards per game receiving. Murray has been a beast in the backfield, rushing for 551 yards (110.2/game) and 9 touchdowns. Not to mention, Murray has 20 catches for 142 yards and a score as well.
Oklahoma is 11-0 in their last eleven meetings with Iowa State, and own a 67-5-2 record all-time in this series. Certainly this looks like one you can pencil in as a win for Oklahoma, especially after Iowa State lost 68-27 to Utah last week. But they did win 38-24 over Texas Tech the week before, a rare win for the Cyclones over a Big 12 South school, and one that got Stoops’ attention.
Iowa State hopes that star RB Alexander Robinson can go this week after suffering a leg injury in their loss to Utah. Head coach Paul Rhoads has stated that Robinson will be a game-time decision. If he cannot go, then freshmen RB’s Shontrelle Johnson and Jeff Woody figure to handle the load. Johnson could be a stud for years to come, as he’s averaging 7.5 yards per carry with 179 rushing yards thus far. While Johnson is a make-you-miss guy, Woody is more of a north and south runner who has 144 yards and 4.6 per rush.
BetUS Projected Score: Oklahoma 41 – Iowa State 17
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