SMU at Texas Tech

Written by Steve Janus

The Texas Tech Red Raiders will open the 2010 season at home agianst the SMU Mustangs on Sunday, as college football continues through Labor Day Weekend with the NFL not starting till next week. The last time these two teams met was in 2008, when the Red Raiders beat up on the Mustangs 43-7.

Texas Tech finished the 2009 season 9-4, including a nice win over Michigan State in teh Alamo Bowl. The Red Raiders will have a much different look to them this season, as they bring in Tommy Tuberville to take over for Mike Leach, who was let go at the end of last season due to player misconduct. Texas Tech does have 14 starters back this season, but figure to be slow out of the gates having to learn new systems on both sides of the ball.

The Mustangs also ended the 2009 season on a good note, as they beat Nevada 45-10 in the Hawaii Bowl to push their overall record to 8-5. The Mustangs have 15 starters back, and will look to compete with Houston for the top spot in the Conference USA West.

If you are interested in betting the game this Sunday, Sports Interaction has the Red Raiders 13.5 point favorites over the Mustangs with the total currently sitting at 60.5 points.

It is hard telling just what the Red Raiders offense will look like without Leach running the show, but there is no question that they still have the talent to be a top notch offense this season with eight starters back from last year. While the Red Raiders were actually pretty good on defense last season, I think the addition of Tuberville will help them maintain a strong unit on this side of the ball.

The Mustangs also figure to be a very strong offensive unit, as they went from averaging 21 points a game in 2008 to just over 29 points a game in 2009, and have eight starters back, including a pretty good sophomore quarterback in Kyle Padron. The defense also made some solid improvements last season, as they cut off nearly 11 points a game from 2008.

Looking at the Odds: I think you have to take the 13.5 points and bet on the Mustangs in this one, as I think the Red Raiders are going to take some time to adjust to the new systems. The Red Raiders have dominated the Mustangs in the past, but I think this is one of the better teams the Mustangs have had in some time. I also like the under in this game, as I think the days of Texas Tech putting 50 points a game up are coming to an end. My final score prediction is Texas Tech 34 – SMU 23.

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