Tweet
Insider Edge Sports
Free Service Play For Saturday October 18, 2003
(321) Texas Tech Red Raiders at (322) Oklahoma St. Cowboys 3:30 pm EST
Oklahoma St. –3 (3 Units)
Texas Tech is the public favorite now since they are putting up 622 yards of offense per game. People love that and love to bet on these high profile offensive teams. The Cowboys are in triple-revenge mode after suffering 3 straight lopsided losses to the Raiders. Cowboys head coach Les Miles claimed his squad was running on fumes following consecutive battles with Texas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas A&M last season and that they are more mentally prepared now than a year ago.
Defense wins football games and the Red Raiders have played teams who have none. Their last 4 games have come against teams whose defenses are ranked 101st, 75th, 97th and 95th. Better yet, their pass efficiency defenses are ranked 100th, 99th, 104th and 102nd. Granted, the numbers put up by Texas Tech affected these totals but even with that, they couldn’t stop the pass against most teams. Now they will face the Cowboys, who come in ranked 37th in total defense and 40th in pass efficiency defense. “It is personal,” Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Clay said. “It’s not so much personal against Texas Tech, it’s personal pride in myself in finding a way to put our players in position to have success. My charge is to put them in position. This is personal for me because we have not done that for two years now. We’ve not won the game.” Most coaches agree Oklahoma’s philosophy is the ideal blueprint since the Sooners have allowed 15,13 and 13 points to the Red Raiders the last 3 yards. Mix coverages. Putting pressure on the quarterback. Play a lot of zone. Blitz some, but not all the time. Solid coverage is a must. Tackling is critical. Improved depth in the secondary will improve the Cowboys’ chances of faring better against Texas Tech’s high-powered offense. “We have a much better secondary than we’ve had in the past,” Miles said. “Not necessarily cranked up and ready to play a go-every-down style of offense, but we’re better at corner and we’re better at safety in numbers. We’ll be able to put more pass defenders on the field than we have the first two years we played them.” We believe the Cowboys will have some answers we don’t see Symons and co. putting up numbers like they have the past few weeks.
While the Raiders are getting all of the hype about their offense, the Cowboys bring in a pretty solid unit as well. Oklahoma St. is 5th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 40.5 ppg. Texas A&M and Iowa State were averaging just over 20 points per game when they suffered losses to Tech the past two weeks. Throw in the fact that the Cowboys come in ranked 11th in rushing offense, averaging 216 ypg and 5.8 ypc while the Raiders come in 75th in rushing defense and 109th in total defense. Tatum Bell is second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally averaging 107.8 rushing yards a game. Texas Tech defensive end Marquis Turner figures to miss Saturday's game. Turner has been one of the team's best players on kickoff coverage, and he also comes in on pass-rush packages.
Oklahoma St. is currently on a hot spread run, going 10-2 ATS their last 12, while Red Raiders are just 3-6 ATS as road dogs last 2+ years. Texas Tech is 20-5 at home under Mike Leach, 7-10 on the road. We think the Cowboys slow down Texas Tech enough to get their revenge and win this one pretty comfortable. And even if the Raiders continue their offensive explosiveness, Oklahoma St. is capable of winning a shootout.
Free Service Play For Saturday October 18, 2003
(321) Texas Tech Red Raiders at (322) Oklahoma St. Cowboys 3:30 pm EST
Oklahoma St. –3 (3 Units)
Texas Tech is the public favorite now since they are putting up 622 yards of offense per game. People love that and love to bet on these high profile offensive teams. The Cowboys are in triple-revenge mode after suffering 3 straight lopsided losses to the Raiders. Cowboys head coach Les Miles claimed his squad was running on fumes following consecutive battles with Texas, Kansas State, Nebraska and Texas A&M last season and that they are more mentally prepared now than a year ago.
Defense wins football games and the Red Raiders have played teams who have none. Their last 4 games have come against teams whose defenses are ranked 101st, 75th, 97th and 95th. Better yet, their pass efficiency defenses are ranked 100th, 99th, 104th and 102nd. Granted, the numbers put up by Texas Tech affected these totals but even with that, they couldn’t stop the pass against most teams. Now they will face the Cowboys, who come in ranked 37th in total defense and 40th in pass efficiency defense. “It is personal,” Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Bill Clay said. “It’s not so much personal against Texas Tech, it’s personal pride in myself in finding a way to put our players in position to have success. My charge is to put them in position. This is personal for me because we have not done that for two years now. We’ve not won the game.” Most coaches agree Oklahoma’s philosophy is the ideal blueprint since the Sooners have allowed 15,13 and 13 points to the Red Raiders the last 3 yards. Mix coverages. Putting pressure on the quarterback. Play a lot of zone. Blitz some, but not all the time. Solid coverage is a must. Tackling is critical. Improved depth in the secondary will improve the Cowboys’ chances of faring better against Texas Tech’s high-powered offense. “We have a much better secondary than we’ve had in the past,” Miles said. “Not necessarily cranked up and ready to play a go-every-down style of offense, but we’re better at corner and we’re better at safety in numbers. We’ll be able to put more pass defenders on the field than we have the first two years we played them.” We believe the Cowboys will have some answers we don’t see Symons and co. putting up numbers like they have the past few weeks.
While the Raiders are getting all of the hype about their offense, the Cowboys bring in a pretty solid unit as well. Oklahoma St. is 5th in the country in scoring offense, averaging 40.5 ppg. Texas A&M and Iowa State were averaging just over 20 points per game when they suffered losses to Tech the past two weeks. Throw in the fact that the Cowboys come in ranked 11th in rushing offense, averaging 216 ypg and 5.8 ypc while the Raiders come in 75th in rushing defense and 109th in total defense. Tatum Bell is second in the Big 12 and 15th nationally averaging 107.8 rushing yards a game. Texas Tech defensive end Marquis Turner figures to miss Saturday's game. Turner has been one of the team's best players on kickoff coverage, and he also comes in on pass-rush packages.
Oklahoma St. is currently on a hot spread run, going 10-2 ATS their last 12, while Red Raiders are just 3-6 ATS as road dogs last 2+ years. Texas Tech is 20-5 at home under Mike Leach, 7-10 on the road. We think the Cowboys slow down Texas Tech enough to get their revenge and win this one pretty comfortable. And even if the Raiders continue their offensive explosiveness, Oklahoma St. is capable of winning a shootout.