College Football Odds: SMU at Texas Tech
Points should come in bunches when the SMU Mustangs make the in state road trip to Lubbock, TX and clash with the high powered offense of the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Ex Auburn coach Tommy Tuberville takes over for the Raiders after the shocking departure of Mike Leach. Tech brings back 14 starters giving Tuberville a great chance to have success in his first season. SMU returns 15 starters from an 8 win team a year ago. The Mustangs are a 13.5 point underdog.
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June Jones is notorious for turning around football programs in a short period of time and that is exactly what he has done at Southern Methodist. The Stangs earned their first bowl win since 1984 in 2009, beating Nevada by 35 points as a 12 point dog. Kyle Pardon saw considerable action as a true freshman, passing for 1922 yards and 10 touchdowns with 4 interceptions. He broke a school record with 460 yards passing against Nevada in the bowl game and is set for a monster sophomore season. SMU does have to replace 1000 yard rusher Shawnbrey McNeal, but have talented freshman Darryl Fields and Kevin Pope waiting in the wings. Emmanuel Sanders was the big play threat for the Mustangs a year ago, catching 98 passes for 1339 yards. Those numbers earned him a 3rd round draft pick by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Aldrick Robinson and Terrance Wilkerson combined for 89 catches and 1300 yards. Three players in all return with at least 40 catches. This team will never be mistaken for their dominant defense, but SMU put up respectable numbers in Conference USA a year ago.
Texas Tech fans will get their guns up once again for their beloved Red Raiders on Sunday. Tommy Tuberville inherits a good situation with an experienced offense that will continue to run a familiar system under the new head coach. Taylor Potts and Sam Sheffield will battle it out for the starting quarterback position. Both had their moments in 2009 with Potts throwing for 3440 yards and 22 touchdowns. Sheffield didn’t get the same reps, but still threw for over 1200 yards and 14 scores. The running game should be strong with the return of star back Baron Batch. The senior rushed for 884 yards and 14 tds last year. Wide receivers love to play in this system and the Air Raiders have their top five back from 09’. There isn’t really one player who stands out above the rest, but this is a strong core that had six players catch at least 35 balls. Tech showed improvement on the defensive end, holding opponents to 22.5 points/game and collecting 41 sacks as a team. DE Brandon Sharpe contributed 15 of those sacks, but used up his eligibility. The defense has some question marks that need to be addressed early in the season.
Texas Tech is 16-1 in home openers and have defeated SMU 13 straight times. Back in 2008 the Red Raiders put it on SMU 43-7 and racked up nearly 700 yards of total offense. This is a much better SMU team, but will they be able to go score for score with Tech? I predict a 42-31 finish so play the Mustangs of SMU in this game.
Play: SMU +13.5
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