Oklahoma State at Iowa State: What Bettors Need to Know
By Covers.com
Oklahoma State Cowboys at Iowa State Cyclones (+27, 67)
THE STORY: It’s starting to look like No. 2 Oklahoma State controls its own destiny in terms of getting to the BCS Championship Game. Of course, that’s always up for debate when talking about the BCS.
The Cowboys have a good cushion in the standings over third-ranked Alabama and, along with No. 1 LSU and No. 11 Houston, remain one of three unbeaten teams in the country. Oklahoma State still has a home game against fifth-ranked Oklahoma looming at the end of the schedule, but it must first get past pesky Iowa State on Friday night.
The Cowboys, off to their best start in school history, have won the last two meetings with the Cyclones, including a 34-8 victory in Ames in 2009.
LINE MOVES: Oklahoma State opened as low as -24 and was bet up to -27.5. The total opened as low as 66 and has risen to 67.5 points.
WEATHER: The forecast for Ames is calling for a chance of rain and winds blowing south at 9 mph. Game-time temperatures will dip into the low 40s.
ABOUT OKLAHOMA STATE (10-0, 7-0 Big 12, 8-2 ATS): Quarterback Brandon Weeden and wide receiver Justin Blackmon were named two of the 15 semifinalists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award this week after a 66-6 shellacking of Texas Tech on the road last weekend.
Weeden is now considered one of the frontrunners for the Heisman Trophy. The 28-year-old senior is third nationally in passing yardage and tied for second with 31 touchdowns - 14 of which have gone to Blackmon. In the victory over Texas Tech, the prolific duo connected for 102 yards and two scores.
ABOUT IOWA STATE (5-4, 2-4 Big 12, 4-5 ATS): Before their bye last weekend, the Cyclones reeled off consecutive victories at Texas Tech and against Kansas to get within striking distance of their second bowl berth during coach Paul Rhoads’ three years with the program. Iowa State has its work cut out for it to reach the six-win mark, though. After this home game against Oklahoma State, the Cyclones finish the season with road trips to No. 5 Oklahoma and No. 17 Kansas State.
EXTRA POINTS:
1. In the last 12 years, Oklahoma State is 10-2 in the game prior to playing rival Oklahoma.
2. The home team is 4-1 in the last five meetings between these schools, with an average margin of victory of 28 points.
3. Iowa State rushed for more than 250 yards in each of its past two wins, including 368 at Texas Tech.
TRENDS:
* Favorite is 6-0 ATS in their last six meetings.
* Home team is 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings.
* Cyclones are 2-6 ATS in their last eight conference games.
* Cowboys are 6-1 ATS in their last seven conference games.
PREDICTION: Oklahoma State 54, Iowa State 14. This Cowboys’ offense can’t be stopped, and they’ll move within one win of a likely appearance in the BCS title game.
Oklahoma St. at Iowa St.
By Brian Edwards
VegasInsider.com
Oklahoma State will put its unbeaten record on the line Friday night when it travels to Ames to face Iowa State. The Cowboys are vying for their first trip to the BCS Championship Game and are in control of their own destiny if they can win out.
As of early Thursday night, most betting shops had Oklahoma State (10-0 straight up, 8-2 against the spread) installed as a 27½-point favorite with a total of 68. Several offshore books had the Cyclones available on the money line for an 18/1 payout (risk $100 to win $1,800).
Mike Gundy’s squad has been a dynamite money maker all season long, especially on the road where it is a perfect 5-0 ATS. During Gundy’s seven-year tenure in Stillwater, OSU owns an incredible 15-3 spread record. The Cowboys have taken the cash in 11 consecutive such spots.
OSU is coming off a 66-6 win at Texas Tech as a 19-point road favorite. The 72 combined points stayed ‘under’ the 79-point total.
Senior quarterback Brandon Weeden produced another outstanding performance, completing 31-of-37 passes for 423 yards and five touchdowns without an interception. His favorite target, Justin Blackmon, hauled in six receptions for 103 yards and two TDs. Joseph Randle rushed for 78 yards and three TDs, while his back-up, redshirt freshman Hershel Sims, rushed for a team-high 109 yards on 13 carries.
OSU limited Texas Tech’s offense to only 270 total yards and didn’t allow any scoring. The Red Raiders, who scored 41 points on Oklahoma’s defense in Norman, got their only touchdown on a scoop and score from the defense.
Iowa State (5-4 SU, 4-5 ATS) had an open date to prepare for a daunting three-game stretch that begins Friday night and continues with road games at Oklahoma next week and at Kansas St. in the regular-season finale. The Cyclones are hoping to win at least one of those in order to become bowl eligible, but they’ll most likely be double-digit underdogs in all three contests.
Paul Rhoads’s squad has won back-to-back games, including a 13-10 home win over Kansas two weeks ago. The previous week, Iowa St. went into Lubbock and caught Texas Tech in a classic letdown spot and cruised to a 41-7 win as a 15½-point underdog.
In both victories, ISU rushed for more than 250 yards and it’ll need that same production from the ground game to pull an upset Friday against OSU. The Cyclones are led in rushing by sophomore James White, who has 618 yards and seven TD runs on 129 carries. White is averaging 4.8 yards per carry.
Jared Barnett has taken over at quarterback for ISU’s last two wins. The redshirt freshman is a potent scrambler, as evidenced by 304 rushing yards and one TD on 58 carries for a 5.2 yards-per-carry average. Barnett has completed 49-of-100 passes for 524 yards with one TD and a pair of interceptions.
Weeden is a legit candidate to win the Heisman Trophy. The 28-year-old senior has connected on 73.1 percent of passes for 3,635 yards with a 31/9 touchdowns-to-interceptions ratio. He has one of the country’s premier receivers in Blackmon, who has 93 catches for 1,142 yards and 14 TDs.
Randle is a workhorse RB on the verge of eclipsing the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He has rushed for 993 yards and 21 TD while averaging 5.9 YPC.
When these teams met in Ames in 2009, OSU captured a 34-8 win as a 7½-point road ‘chalk.’ The Cowboys have won three of the last four over the Cyclones both SU and ATS.
The ‘under’ has cashed in three straight games for ISU this year and is 5-4 overall, 3-2 in its home games. As for OSU’s totals, they’ve been a wash (4-4-2) with the ‘under’ going 3-1-1 in its five road assignments.
Kickoff is slated for 8:00 p.m. Eastern on ESPN2.
Cowboys And Cyclones Under Friday Night Lights
By: Willie Bee
Donbest.com
Mike Gundy has the Oklahoma State Cowboys two games away from a shot at the BCS title. You can count Bill Hancock among the fans cheering them along.
Oklahoma State heads out on the Big 12 highway this Friday with a prime-time affair against the Iowa State Cyclones. Early college football odds were scattered from 24½-27, the early consensus at Oklahoma State -26½.
Don Best Sports' Kenny White sent his initial total out at 66, exactly what Oklahoma State scored by itself last week.
Hancock, the BCS executive director, is a rah-rah machine right now behind both the Cowboys and LSU Tigers. If both schools win out to finish the regular season undefeated, they'll meet in New Orleans next January for the big enchilada and give the BCS folks another easy matchup to show their system is working.
Should either lose a game, there's going to be a lot of debate about which one-loss school should play in the BCS Championship. If both drop a game, all hell is likely to break loose.
This is a potential look-ahead game for Gundy and his guys, but don't count on it for a couple of reasons. The Cowboys have been facing the same prospect of thinking too much about their Dec. 3 home date with Oklahoma just about the entire season, but especially since Oct. 22 when the Sooners were upset on their turf by Texas Tech. Oklahoma State has responded by taking out Baylor, Kansas State and Texas Tech by a combined 167-75 tally.
Secondly, the game against the Sooners isn't on the immediate horizon. The Cowboys will have a week off between this battle with the Cyclones and Oklahoma's visit to Stillwater.
The only looking ahead by Oklahoma State this past week was done by the backups who were wondering when Gundy might pull the first stringers at Lubbock. The Cowboys, who were laying 19½, raced to a 49-0 lead over Texas Tech at the half and never looked back in a 66-6 rout. Brandon Weeden played pitch-and-catch with his receivers, completing 31-of-37 tosses for 423 yards and five scores.
A bigger story against the Red Raiders was the Oklahoma State defense. Seth Doege and Tech entered the game 11th in the nation in total yardage, but were held under 300 yards for only the second time this season and never scored, the Red Raiders' lone points courtesy of their defense.
Weeden has certainly deserved his share of the spotlight all season, and the defense was remarkable last game. Almost lost in the Cowboys' climb to No. 2 in the BCS – No. 4 in the latest Don Best Linemakers Poll – has been the play of running back Joseph Randle. The sophomore is seven shy of the 1,000-yard rushing mark and has gotten into the end zone personally more often than all but one player in 2011, Wisconsin's Montee Ball. Randle has scored 14 touchdowns the last four weeks alone, 12 of them carrying the rock.
It would seem impossible for Iowa State not to give the Cowboys more of a fight than the Red Raiders put up last Saturday. The Cyclones should have a vocal crowd behind them for a rare national prime-time broadcast from Jack Trice Stadium. Paul Rhoads' club also needs two wins among the final three games to become bowl eligible.
Getting just one win the rest of the way will be tough enough. Iowa State finishes the 2011 schedule on the road at Oklahoma and Kansas State.
The Cyclones have had two weeks off since escaping with a 13-10 win at home as 14½-point favorites against Kansas, one of the worst teams in the FBS ranks. Oklahoma State manhandled the Jayhawks in early October, 70-28, the Cowboys scoring half of their points in the opening quarter.
Iowa State's defense ranks 90th in the country allowing 420 yards per game, and it has yet to face the likes of the Cowboys or Sooners who rank 3-4 nationally in total offense.
Oklahoma State has been a money machine on the road this year, covering the spread in all five away contests. The Cyclones are 2-3 ATS at home.
The Cyclones will get leading receiver Darius Reynolds back for this game after the senior was suspended for the Kansas game. Oklahoma State is not reporting any new injuries.
Mostly clear skies give way to clouds and a 20 percent chance of showers in Ames during the evening hours on Friday. The thermometer is expected to be in the mid-to-upper 40s when ESPN begins its broadcast at 8:00 p.m. (ET).