College Football Odds: Texas Aggies at Oklahoma St
ESPN's Thursday night telecast could turn into a shootout and easy 'over' for college football bettors when Jerrod Johnson and the Fighting Texas Aggies travel to face Oklahoma State.
You must feel pretty good about yourself, Mr. Big 12. You don’t have any losing teams after four weeks of college football. Then again, your 12 members are a combined 20-23-1 ATS heading into conference play. Your marquee programs – Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska – are 3-8-1 ATS. No wonder people want to leave.
It isn’t all doom and gloom in the cradle of football. On Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), we’ll see the Texas A&M Aggies take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater. Each team is at 3-0 SU and 2-1 ATS after three games, all at home. So far, so good, but don’t be fooled by those identical records. The Cowboys have outplayed the Aggies by a respectable margin.
Here are the non-conference results for both teams:
Texas A&M
Oklahoma State
Neither team wins points for degree of difficulty. But at least the Cowboys didn’t resort to playing an FCS team in their season opener. They also didn’t have to come back from a 20-6 deficit last week to beat FIU. Aggies QB Jerrod Johnson chucked four interceptions in that game, one week after A&M lost four fumbles in the first half against Louisiana Tech. The defense doesn’t appear to have much stopping power, so it’s up to Johnson to cut down the mistakes and move the chains – not an easy task behind a rebuilt offensive line.
The Cowboys had a scare of their own against Troy, turning the ball over five times, but they held the lead for most of the second half. And last week’s win over Tulsa was a gem. Brandon Weeden (who reportedly played against Troy with a sprained thumb) threw six TD passes, and the ‘Pokes defense did a pretty good number on the Golden Hurricane, picking off G.J. Kinne three times. The 'over' was still an easy winner on a total of 69½ points to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Although three games is a small sample size, the adjusted S&P ratings at Football Outsiders have the Cowboys offense ranked No. 27 among the 120 FBS teams, with the Aggies trailing at No. 62. On defense, the two teams are nearly equal with A&M at No. 59 and OSU at No. 60. That’s a sizeable advantage for the ‘Pokes, but according to the betting odds at press time, they’re only laying 3½ points to the Aggies.
Easy to see why the public is pounding Oklahoma State at a 95-percent clip according to the early consensus reports. The spread has been jumping around from 2½ to 3½ points; some books are tweaking the juice instead so they can stay on that magic three points. It wouldn’t be the first time they got saddled with a push in this matchup. Last year, the Cowboys rode into College Station and won 36-31 as 5-point favorites.
Less is expected of the ‘Pokes this year now that Weeden has replaced Zac Robinson (currently on the Seattle Seahawks practice roster) at quarterback. But that’s not the only change in Stillwater. Dana Holgorsen is the new offensive co-ordinator, running a spread offense that worked wonders while he was assisting Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Weeden’s maturity and decision-making process are tailor-made for Holgorsen’s offense. The redshirt junior turns 27 next month; he was a second-round draft pick of the New York Yankees back in 2002 and spent five years pitching in the minor leagues before deciding to return to the gridiron. Weeden is, for all intents and purposes, a man playing among boys.
Johnson is an immensely talented quarterback, as well, but he’s not going to perform very well without some more protection. The Cowboys don’t have the best pass rush in the world, though. The 'over' is a perfectly legitimate betting option for this matchup on the total of 67½ points. They might even get there at halftime.
ESPN's Thursday night telecast could turn into a shootout and easy 'over' for college football bettors when Jerrod Johnson and the Fighting Texas Aggies travel to face Oklahoma State.
You must feel pretty good about yourself, Mr. Big 12. You don’t have any losing teams after four weeks of college football. Then again, your 12 members are a combined 20-23-1 ATS heading into conference play. Your marquee programs – Oklahoma, Texas and Nebraska – are 3-8-1 ATS. No wonder people want to leave.
It isn’t all doom and gloom in the cradle of football. On Thursday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN), we’ll see the Texas A&M Aggies take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys in Stillwater. Each team is at 3-0 SU and 2-1 ATS after three games, all at home. So far, so good, but don’t be fooled by those identical records. The Cowboys have outplayed the Aggies by a respectable margin.
Here are the non-conference results for both teams:
Texas A&M
- 48-7 over Stephen F. Austin (+33½)
- 48-16 over Louisiana Tech (+17½)
- 27-20 over Florida International (+28½)
Oklahoma State
- 65-17 over Washington State (+16½)
- 41-38 over Troy (+13½)
- 65-28 over Tulsa (+7)
Neither team wins points for degree of difficulty. But at least the Cowboys didn’t resort to playing an FCS team in their season opener. They also didn’t have to come back from a 20-6 deficit last week to beat FIU. Aggies QB Jerrod Johnson chucked four interceptions in that game, one week after A&M lost four fumbles in the first half against Louisiana Tech. The defense doesn’t appear to have much stopping power, so it’s up to Johnson to cut down the mistakes and move the chains – not an easy task behind a rebuilt offensive line.
The Cowboys had a scare of their own against Troy, turning the ball over five times, but they held the lead for most of the second half. And last week’s win over Tulsa was a gem. Brandon Weeden (who reportedly played against Troy with a sprained thumb) threw six TD passes, and the ‘Pokes defense did a pretty good number on the Golden Hurricane, picking off G.J. Kinne three times. The 'over' was still an easy winner on a total of 69½ points to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Although three games is a small sample size, the adjusted S&P ratings at Football Outsiders have the Cowboys offense ranked No. 27 among the 120 FBS teams, with the Aggies trailing at No. 62. On defense, the two teams are nearly equal with A&M at No. 59 and OSU at No. 60. That’s a sizeable advantage for the ‘Pokes, but according to the betting odds at press time, they’re only laying 3½ points to the Aggies.
Easy to see why the public is pounding Oklahoma State at a 95-percent clip according to the early consensus reports. The spread has been jumping around from 2½ to 3½ points; some books are tweaking the juice instead so they can stay on that magic three points. It wouldn’t be the first time they got saddled with a push in this matchup. Last year, the Cowboys rode into College Station and won 36-31 as 5-point favorites.
Less is expected of the ‘Pokes this year now that Weeden has replaced Zac Robinson (currently on the Seattle Seahawks practice roster) at quarterback. But that’s not the only change in Stillwater. Dana Holgorsen is the new offensive co-ordinator, running a spread offense that worked wonders while he was assisting Mike Leach at Texas Tech. Weeden’s maturity and decision-making process are tailor-made for Holgorsen’s offense. The redshirt junior turns 27 next month; he was a second-round draft pick of the New York Yankees back in 2002 and spent five years pitching in the minor leagues before deciding to return to the gridiron. Weeden is, for all intents and purposes, a man playing among boys.
Johnson is an immensely talented quarterback, as well, but he’s not going to perform very well without some more protection. The Cowboys don’t have the best pass rush in the world, though. The 'over' is a perfectly legitimate betting option for this matchup on the total of 67½ points. They might even get there at halftime.