Texas at Texas Tech Line

Written by Steve Janus

The 21st ranked Texas Longhorns are set to host the Texas Tech Red Raiders in a Big 12 instate rivalry showdown on Saturday. The Longhorns rebounded from back-to-back losses with a 43-0 beating of Kansas last week, while the Red Raiders were stunned 7-41 at home against Iowa State just one week after beating then No. 3 Oklahoma on the road. Texas has won seven of the last eight in the series, with the only loss coming at Texas Tech back in 2008.

Taking a look at the week 10 college football lines, oddsmakers currently have the Longhorns favored by 12-points over the Red Raiders with the total set at 60.5 points.

Texas Tech:

The Red Raiders suffered one of the biggest letdowns in the nation last week. After shocking Oklahoma on their home turf, Texas Tech was favored by 15.5 points over the Cyclones. That was about as close as the Red Raiders came to winning that game, as they trailed 21-0 by the end of the first quarter. Texas Tech was outgained 512 to 290 against a Cyclone team that had opened up Big 12 play with four straight losses by at least 16 points.

While you had to expect this team to suffer some sort of a letdown with their win over Oklahoma and Texas looming the following week, no one could have predicted the Red Raiders offense to struggle like it did against Iowa State. Starting quarterback Seth Doege had thrown for at least 366 yards and a touchdown in every conference game, but managed to complete just 16 of 32 for 171 with no touchdowns and two interceptions.

It’s hard telling what to expect from the red Raiders against the Longhorns. There’s no doubt that this team will be motivated against one of their biggest rivals, but it is going to be extremely hard for this team to rebound from the performance they gave last week. The loss dropped them to 5-3 overall and 2-3 inside the conference. With Oklahoma State, Missouri, and Baylor left after Texas, this team could possibly end up not even making a bowl game this year.

For Texas Tech to win this game they are going to have to rely on their offense to get back on track. However, that won’t be easy against a strong Texas defense. The Longhorns are 13th in the nation in total defense, allowing just 104.1 ypg on the ground and just 192.3 through the air.

Texas:

You have to be impressed with the way Texas returned from their bye week to dominate a bad Kansas team at home. The Longhorns held the Jayhawks to just three first downs and 46 yards of total offense. while putting up 35 first downs and 590 yards of offense on the other side of the ball. The win pushed Texas to 5-2 overall with their only two losses coming against Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

Texas simply lined up and ran the ball right down the throats of the Kansas defense for 441 yards and five touchdowns on 72 attempts. Most of the damage was done by freshmen running backs Joe Bergeron and Malcolm Brown. Bergeron had 136 yards and two scores on just 13 attempts, while Brown rushed 28 times for 119 yards and two touchdowns.

Freshman quarterback David Ash completed 14 of 18 for 170 yards, but finished without a touchdown and one interception. While it was his best performance as a starter, he has now thrown just 1 touchdown to five interceptions in the last three games.

Ash likely won’t have to throw much against the Red Raiders for Texas to bring home another win. Texas Tech has the 109th ranked run defense in the country, allowing 225.8 yards per game on the ground. The Red Raiders were torched for 368 rushing yards in their loss to Iowa State.

Betting Trends:

Texas Tech is 45-18-1 ATS in their last 64 games following a S.U. loss.

Texas is 3-9 ATS in their last 12 games following a S.U. win.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this week in college football.

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