The Tennessee Volunteers and Oklahoma Sooners are two of the college football programs that have huge fan bases and create a lot of national interest. They’ll play Saturday night.
Tennessee Volunteers @ Oklahoma Sooners
Saturday, September 13th – 8:05 PM ET
Odds: Oklahoma -20.5
Why The Volunteers Will Cover
They are going to be facing an opponent that has played very soft teams through two weeks of the season. Oklahoma has gone up against Louisiana Tech and Tulsa, two teams that are going to wind up competing for championships this season in their conferences. The Sooners have waltzed past them, and while Oklahoma has done what it has needed to do, there’s always a risk to playing easy teams at the start of a season. As soon as you go up against a much better team, the level of the challenge increases markedly, and young players who are still learning a system and a way of competing can panic. Oklahoma’s players might get punched in the mouth early by Tennessee, a young team, but one that knows it is not expected to win and therefore has absolutely nothing to lose. If Tennessee, which has a talented group of wide receivers such as Marquez North, can hit a few long passing plays early in this game and get a few touchdowns without having to hold the ball for a long period of time against Oklahoma’s defense, the Volunteers can get a lead, force Oklahoma to play catch-up, and apply a lot of game pressure to the Sooners. If this scenario happens, and it’s realistic that it could, the Vols will be in a position to easily cover. They just might even be able to get to the fourth quarter with a chance to win the game outright. Early in the season, wild things can happen, and that’s what Tennessee is banking on.
Why The Sooners Will Cover
They are a balanced and levelheaded team, at least to this point in the season. Oklahoma is taking care of business. It might be playing weak teams, but if you do play weak teams, you need to go out and show that you’re much better than your opponent, establishing total superiority. The Sooners have performed the way their coaching staff generally wants them to play. There is room for more development, and the coaches will expect that, but Oklahoma has basically done its job, and that point has to be remembered as you go over this game and plot out your betting play. Quarterback Trevor Knight has looked fairly sure of what he’s doing and responsive to what opposing defenses are trying to throw at him. If Knight plays a patient game and makes the simple play, scanning the whole field if his first read is taken away from him, Oklahoma should not have many problems in this game. The Sooners will romp if their offense is playing its best.
Outlook
There’s a feeling here that Knight and Oklahoma’s offense will struggle for at least a quarter and a half against an SEC defense. Oklahoma will sort itself out and win the game outright, but Tennessee will stay close enough to cover.
Pick: Tennessee +20.5
