College Football Odds: Iowa State at Oklahoma

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The Big 12 North will clash with the class of the South this weekend when the 6th ranked Oklahoma Sooners host the Iowa State Cyclones.  Oklahoma is the second straight Top 10 opponent for the Cyclones.  Utah trailed after the first quarter last week at Iowa State, but the Utes outscored the Clones 31-0 in the second quarter and left with a 68-27 victory.  The Sooners were off last week following a huge win over rival Texas that gave them control of the South division.  OU is 5-0 and a national title contender.  The line is set at 23 points favoring Oklahoma.

Iowa State’s schedule is considered the toughest in the nation and for good reason.  They have already faced two teams currently ranked in the Top 15 and have dates with two more squads highly ranked.  The Cyclones enter the game with a 3-3 record and are 1-1 in Big 12 play.  Beating Texas Tech at home was huge for this team, but all of that momentum quickly disappeared in a 41 point loss to Utah.  Austen Arnaud cannot seem to put two strong games consecutively together at quarterback.  He has thrown for 958 yards on the year with eight touchdown passes and seven interceptions.  Arnaud completed just 41% of his passes last week after completing 71% the prior week.  Cyclone fans have became accustom to the erratic play at quarterback.  Alexander Robinson has done a nice job running the ball.  The senior has gained 449 yards on 88 carries and scored a team high five touchdowns.  Freshman Shontrelle Johnson is starting to get more carries and is taking advantage of his opportunity.  Johnson is averaging 7.5 yards per carry and has 179 yards on 24 carries.  Colin Franklin continues to lead Iowa State in receiving.  He has a team best 25 receptions for 279 yards and two touchdowns.  Darius Darks is second on the team with 16 catches for 1903 yards.

Some weeks Oklahoma looks like the cream of the crop in college football and other weeks it barely deserves a Top 25 ranking.  The Sooners seem to play up or down to the level of their competition.  Bob Stoops has had two weeks to prepare his team for the stretch run of Big 12 play.  Landry Jones has been solid in his first full season as the starting quarterback.  The sophomore has accounted for 1457 yards through the air and 11 touchdowns with three interceptions.  He is completing nearly 64% of his passes in Oklahoma’s up-tempo offense.  DeMarco Murray is electric coming out of the backfield and is finally showing flashes of being a dominant running back.  He has been a workhorse, carrying the ball 130 times for 551 yards and a team best nine touchdowns.  If you want to slow down the Sooner offense, keying on wide receiver Ryan Broyles is vital.  He is putting up large numbers and averaging nearly 10 catches per game.  Broyles has 46 catches for 518 yards and four touchdowns.  The next closest Sooner has 18 catches (Kenny Stills).  DeMarco Murray and Broyles account for the majority of yardage on offense.  Defensively, OU is not as strong as they were in past seasons.  They are allowing 22.8 points per game.

The Cyclones have not faired well historically against Oklahoma, but not many teams have.  ISU has gone just 3-35 all time in Norman and have been held to 10 points or less in 18 of the past 24 meetings.  These two teams last hooked up in 2007, which ended in a 17-7 OU win.  The Sooners overwhelm teams at home and Iowa State will be no difference.  Don’t be afraid to lay the big number here.

Play: Oklahoma -23

 

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