The West Virginia Mountaineers travel west to Boone Pickens Stadium to take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys on Saturday, October 29th at High Noon ET. The contest will be broadcast on the FOX Network. As of now, the Mountaineers are -4 point favorites and the total is 65.
In last year’s match-up, the Oklahoma State Cowboys went on the road and defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers 33-26 in overtime. Amazingly, Mason Rudolph, the Cowboy’s starting quarterback, tossed three interceptions and no touchdowns. Nevertheless, the Cowboys walked out of West Virginia with the win.
#9 West Virginia (6-0):
The Mountaineers hope to continue their improbable run through the first part of the 2016 season. When the year started, they were not ranked and predicted to finish in the bottom half of the Big-12. Now, they are undefeated and have aspirations of playing for the Big-12 title.
West Virginia quarterback Skyler Howard is proving that he can play at an elite level. The offensive leader has thrown for over 1,800 yards on 203 completions. He also has tossed 12 touchdowns and thrown only four interceptions. The youngster can also move the pigskin with his feet. Howard has ran the ball 60 times for 200 yards and three more trips to the end zone.
The Mountaineers have run the football for over 200 yards a game this year. Rushel Shell and and Justin Crawford handle the work-load out of the back field. Combined, the two talents have rushed for over 800 yards on 164 carries and eight scores.
Four West Virginia wide receivers have caught over 20 passes and each have found their way to pay-dirt at least once this season. Together, they have reeled in over 100 passes for over 1,400 yards and nine scores.
West Virginia’s defense posts average numbers all through the four major defensive categories. Where they stand-out is where it matters most, on the scoreboard. The Mountaineers rank 15th in the country allowing just over 17 points a game. They also appear to be getting better as the season progresses. Last week, they held the Horn
Frogs to 148 yards through the air and only 300 yards total.
Oklahoma State (5-2):
The Cowboys offense has put up over forty points a game in four of it’s seven contests. In large part because Mason Rudolph is finding his talented wide outs Jalen McCleskey and James Washington. This year, Rudolph has connected on 159 completions for over 2,2000 yards with 14 touchdowns and just two interceptions.
Justice Hill and Renie Childs are getting the carries when the Cowboys decide to move the rock via the ground attack. Hill has over 100 of them, totaling 568 yards and four trips to the promised land. Childs has 40 carries of his own for 188 yards and a team-high seven touchdowns. Four other backs have pitched-in seven more scores to help the Cowboys score out of the back field.
Three wide outs have gotten the job done for Oklahoma State in 2016. The trio has combined for almost 100 grabs for an impressive 1,707 yards and 13 scores. Stand-out James Washington averages 20 yards a catch and has almost 740 yards on his own.
The Cowboys defense has struggled to produce since the start of their 2016 campaign. As a result, they give up almost 450 yards a game and 266 of those yards through the air. The consequences for that, are the 27 points a game they are surrendering to the opposing schools that they play.
Trends and Notes:
The Mountaineers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 conference games.
The Cowboys are 2-5 ATS in their last 7 conference games.
The Under is 17-4 in the Mountaineers last 21 conference games.
The Over is 9-1 in the Cowboys last 10 conference games.
Game Prediction:
West Virginia’s offense is certainly on a roll and the Oklahoma State defense doesn’t look like it has the moxie to come close to stopping it. Also, the Mountaineers seem to find away to limit their adversaries in the red zone.
Oklahoma State is at home and they seem to play inspired in front of their fans. This year they have accumulated a 4-1 record there and the offense seems to come alive more so than on the road. All that being said, the Cowboys have not faced near the talented teams that the Mountaineers have sent packing.
West Virginia will field the better defense and Skyler Howard can keep up with anybody right now. The over 65 may certainly be tempting but the Mountaineers keep hitting the under. After consulting with The Rainmaker over at Get More Sports, we suggest you keep it simple and just take the better team to cover the -4 points.
Swing in to getmoresports.com to get the skinny on plenty of Saturday college football action.
