The Southern Methodist Mustangs take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane this week in a game that will feature the country’s third-leading receiver, Keyarris Garrett (966 yards, 5 TDs). This rough season has only gotten worse for Tulsa (3-4), having lost four straight. The game will air Saturday, Oct 31 at 4:00 p.m. ET on ESNN.
In last week’s matchup, SMU struggled mightily against South Florida 38-14. Darrel Colbert, Jr. had a good performance through the air in the loss, connecting on 11 of 13 pass attempts for 120 yards and one TD. Courtland Sutton put up 56 receiving yards and a TD on three catches. Tulsa also struggled, struggling mightily against Memphis 66-42. Keyarris Garrett had a huge game for the Golden Hurricane, grabbing 14 receptions for 268 yards and three TDs. Dane Evans had a great game as well, adding 421 yards and four TDs through the air.
Tulsa is a small one-point favorite as they take on the Mustangs.
Sitting at 1-6 Straight Up (SU) and 4-3 Against The Spread (ATS), the Mustangs will look to improve heading into Week 9. In their five most recent matchups, the Mustangs went 0-5 SU and 2-3 ATS. In the first quarter, SMU is tough to stop, putting up 10.3 points in the first 15 minutes. On average, the Golden Hurricane earn 8.1 flags each game, one of the worst rates in the nation. Such errors could be beneficial for the Mustangs if they persist into this week’s game.
Over on the other sideline, the Golden Hurricane head into Week 9 with records of 3-3-1 ATS and 3-4 SU. Over their last five games, the Golden Hurricane have a SU record of 1-4 and a 2-2-1 record ATS for those betting with them. Chances are Tulsa will continue to rely on its passing attack, where its 364 passing yards per game ranks sixth in the nation. Moving on to the Tulsa defense, there are certain areas where it measures up well against the Mustangs. The Mustangs need to be careful with the football against the Golden Hurricane. Their defense ranks 12th in the country with one fumble recovered per game. SMU needs to keep its intensity through the fourth quarter against the Golden Hurricane, who average 11.6 points in the final 15 minutes of regulation. A fast-paced offense, Tulsa takes a lot of snaps during games. On average, the team runs 89.7 plays per game.
Predictions: SU Winner – Southern Methodist, ATS Winner – Southern Methodist
Notes
Southern Methodist is 0-5 SU in its last 5 games.
The total has gone OVER in 4 of Southern Methodist’s last 5 games.
Southern Methodist is 3-7 ATS in its last 10 games at home.
The total has gone OVER in 12 of Southern Methodist’s last 17 games at home.
Southern Methodist is 1-10 SU in its last 11 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Southern Methodist’s last 7 games when playing Tulsa.
Southern Methodist is 12-6 SU in its last 18 games when playing Tulsa.
Southern Methodist is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games when playing at home against Tulsa.
Tulsa is 3-0 SU when leading at the half this season. SMU is 1-1 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Tulsa is only 1-3) SU in games where it comes out ahead in the turnover battle, yet 2-1 SU when losing the turnover battle.
SMU has provoked an average of 8.0 penalties on opponents this season. Tulsa is only 1-3 SU when penalized at least eight times in a game.
The SMU rushing attack is ranked 66th in the country, while the Tulsa run defense is only ranked 120th. The Golden Hurricane running game is ranked 47th, compared to the 125th-ranked rush defense of the Mustangs.
