Venue/ Stadium: Jones AT&T Stadium, LUBBOCK, TX
Time/Date: 7 PM EST Saturday, October 29, 2011
NCAA Odds From: BetOnline
Moneyline: Iowa State +500 / Texas Tech -640
Spread (ATS): Texas Tech -15
Over/Under: 67
Iowa State Cyclones vs. No. 20 Texas Tech Red Raiders Preview
Texas Tech (5-2) is coming off a HUGE win beating Oklahoma on the road, which snapped the Sooners 39-game home winning streak. Iowa State (3-4) is on the other side of the spectrum, as after starting the season 3-0 they have lost their last 4 games and have yet to win a Big 12 game. NCAAF lines have Texas Tech as big 15-point home favorites with a total of 67.
In their last games Iowa State lost to Texas A&M 33-17 while Texas Tech beat Oklahoma 41-38.
The big question in this game is do Iowa State and their 74th ranked pass defense have any chance against a Texas Tech pass offense that ranks 3rd in the nation?
Tech and their dynamic passing offense is led by QB Seth Doege, who passed for 441 yards with 4 TD and 0 INT in the win over Oklahoma, and WR’s Alex Torres (39 rec 475 yards 4 TD) and Eric Ward (44 rec 430 yards 8 TD). The Cyclones gave up 263 passing yards last week and in their last 3 losses, which were all blowouts, they lost to teams that have a great passing offense. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Even though the aerial attack is the main weapon for the Red Raiders they can run the ball ranking 59th in the nation in rushing yards per game. Not only do the Cyclones have a weak pass defense, but also their run defense is even worse ranking 114th in the nation.
For Iowa State to have any chance to win this game they will need QB Jared Barnett and RB James White to play stellar. This is especially the case since the ISU defense has really struggled in the last few games. Still, White has only rushed for over 100 yards in 1 game this season and freshman Barnett is only making the 1st start of his career. The one thing the Cyclones have going for them is that the Red Raiders only rank 105th in the nation in run defense and 53rd in pass defense.
White will not get any help in the backfield since RB Shontrelle Johnson, who rushed for 102 yards last season against Texas Tech, is out for this game with an injury.
Betting Trends
This season Iowa State is 3-4 ATS and has an Over/Under record of 4-3 and Texas Tech is 5-2 ATS and has an Over/Under record of 6-1.
Iowa State is 2-6 ATS in their last 8 road games, 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog of 10.5 points or more, and has an Under record of 7-2 in their last 9 road games.
Texas Tech is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games facing a team with a losing record and has an Over record of 4-1 in their last 5 home games.
Jason’s Pick: Seriously? Texas Tech ranks 9th in the nation in scoring while Iowa State ranks 115th giving up almost 36 points per game? Yeah, take Tech to easily win and cover and the Over is the pick with all the points on the scoreboard that will be put up in this Big 12 match up.
