Oklahoma
vs.
West Virginia
College Football
Pick – Analysis
9/20/14
This Game was considered a free win for Oklahoma before the season started, but now it could have Sooner fans worried. It doesn’t help that top running back Keith Ford injured his ankle and is out for the next few weeks. The Sooners travel to West Virginia as -7 point favorites at sportsbook.ag and 5 dimes sportsbook.
So far, Oklahoma has lived up the label as one of the best teams in the country. They are currently No. 4 in the AP Polls and haven’t really had trouble in their first three Games. While two Games were free wins, a 34-10 win last week against Tennessee was impressive on both ends. As long as the offense keeps putting points on the board, their defense will continue to stymy opposing offenses.
West Virginia has also been impressive with three covers, one that includeda hard-fought 33-23 loss to Alabama. They held with the Crimson Tide for most of the Game. Last week, the Mountaineers upset Maryland in a high-scoring 40-37 win.
In last year’s matchup, West Virginia surprised a lot of people by holding strong against Oklahoma in a 16-7 loss. WVU’s defense, which didn’t do much last week, will be key in this Game.
Quarterback Trevor Knight has been respectable in his first full-season as the Sooners starter, but there is still much to be desired. Knight’s completion percentage is south of 60% and he only has Four passing touchdowns even though the team is scoring 45 points per Game. Sterling Shepard will continue to be his top target, but the loss of Ford in the running Game could make things interesting. Samaje Perine and Alex Ross will likely split carries, which should be a good showcase for them. Both have been solid in change-of-pace roles so far.
The Mountaineers are susceptible to the run, so one of the new RBs will have to pick up in Ford’s absence. If the ground Game struggles, Knight will be in the spotlight.
On the other end, West Virginia will get a tough test, but already have experience against the ‘Bama defense. In that Game, the Mountaineers couldn’t get much on the ground, but quarterback Clint Trickett picked up the slack. In fact, Trickett has been awesome this season, already with 1,224 passing yards, 7 TDs and a 75% completion rate. If WVU can get their ground Game going at all with Rushel Shell, this will be a very interesting Game.
West Virginia has shown their offense’s potency so far, and without Oklahoma’s starting RB on the other end, there is a chance for an outright upset. Keep in mind this will be the first real Game for the Mountaineers at home this season as they blew out Towson 54-0 a couple weeks ago. Can Oklahoma live up to their ranking in their first real test in the Big 12 opener?
The Sooners have been great against the spread lately, covering six of their last seven overall and Four straight on the road against a team with a winning home record. The Mountaineers are only 1-6 ATS in their last seven Conference Games, and 2-5 ATS in their last seven home Games, but this is a new season.
Lots of West Virginia money showing up here. This was one of the biggest moves this week as this Game opened Oklahoma -12. Hey, sometimes the oddsmakers are right and in this spot, they just might be. West Virginia barely got by Maryland who quite frankly, isn’t very good. The Sooners should be a horse of a different color. If we can get this line to nudge a ittle further, we could become interested aat -7 or better. Oklahoma -7 or better.