UCLA vs. Oklahoma Total Prediction
Chip Kelly’s UCLA debut did not go well and the Bruins’ follow-up performance could be even worse when they visit Oklahoma at 1:00 p.m. ET on Saturday. With the total sitting in the 60s, will the two teams combine to score enough points to push the score over the number?
Game Snapshot
331 UCLA Bruins vs. 332 Oklahoma Sooners
1:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 8, 2018
Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium, Norman, Oklahoma
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Sooners are 30-point favorites to beat the Bruins. The total, meanwhile, sits at 64.5 points. As of this writing, 69% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Bruins.
UCLA Bruins
UCLA redshirt senior QB Wilton Speight (back) missed practice on Monday and is considered day-to-day by HC Chip Kelly. This may end up being a pain threshold thing. But with Speight’s history of back problems, the news of his injury was particularly concerning. The Bruins would sure like him back for this weekend’s nightmarish matchup against Oklahoma. If Speight can’t go, it would appear that raw true freshman Dorian Thompson-Robinson might get thrown to the wolves in his first collegiate start. Thompson-Robinson came on in relief of an injured Speight in Saturday’s loss to Cincy.
Oklahoma Sooners
Pro Football Focus notes that Oklahoma redshirt junior QB Kyler Murray had the highest yards-per-attempt of any quarterback of any quarterback this weekend. Murray only attempted 11 passes, but he still was able to throw for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the 63-14 shellacking of Florida Atlantic. That works out to 19 yards per attempt, easily besting the rest of the NCAA passers. The soon-to-be Oakland Athletic certainly looked the part against the Owls, and he should be inline for another big game against UCLA on Saturday.
Betting Trends
UCLA
The under is 4-0 in the Bruins’ last four games overall.
Oklahoma
The over is 6-1 in the Sooners’ last seven games played in September.
Prediction
The Sooners displayed their outstanding offense a week ago when Murray lit up Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic Owls. They should also fare well against Chip Kelly’s Bruins but I don’t see how UCLA scores enough with a freshman under center to warrant a play on the over. Dorian Thompson-Robinson showed plenty of arm strength while stepping in for Speight but he was often inaccurate. Kelly should be given a chance to get UCLA up and running over time but the Bruins will continue to suffer growing pains with a roster that is mostly freshman.
College Football Prediction: UCLA/Oklahoma under 64.5