Sooners vs Cyclones NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
I am still a little bit shocked by the result of last week’s OU vs Notre Dame game. It marked the second loss at home for the Sooners this season and it could easily be the tipping point for a program that could be sliding.
#12 Oklahoma Sooners (5-2) vs Iowa State Cyclones (5-3)
Saturday November 3
Jack Trice Stadium – Ames, IA
12:00PM
Moneyline: Oklahoma -425, Iowa State +340
Spread: Oklahoma -11.5
O/U: 52.5
Oklahoma
I want to give some credit to the Irish (even though it pains me) but I still say the Sooners lost that game. They just didn’t seem all that fired up, as if losing at home was OK if you lose to somebody good. It isn’t supposed to be that way at Oklahoma.
Even after scoring just 13 points against the Irish the Sooners are still averaging 40ppg. Landry Jones threw for more than 350 yards last week but without any threat running the ball the Irish just waited out the Sooners who would make a couple of first downs before the offense bogged down.
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Iowa State is not nearly as stout up front as ND and I expect Oklahoma will look to establish the ground game just to prove a point.
The number (-11.5) was the same last week with Sooners at home against a top team but I thought it was a smart play. If the offense rebounds they could easily win this one by 30 so I am comfortable laying the points again. Just think of it as a slight discount due to last week’s ugmo performance. Had they won this would be 14 or more points for sure. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Iowa State
Who would have thought that the Cyclones would enter this game with the same number of victories as the Sooners. Due to unexpectedly good play since the conference schedule began Iowa State is looking for that final victory to gain bowl eligibility. You might not have noticed but this team has beaten TCU and Baylor and nearly knocked off Kansas State last month. With a stingy defense the Cyclones are catching teams by surprise.
Iowa State always worries me because I just don’t see how they are going to put up points to compete with the high scoring teams in the conference. They stayed close to KSU because they held them to just 27 but the Cyclones offense led by Steele Jantz is wildly unpredictable and it is not like Oklahoma is a horrible defensive team. They would have to score at least 21 points to keep this thing close and I am not sure they can.
The Cyclones should be able to get that magic 6th victory – they have a date with Kansas later in the month. This week they are looking more for continued respectability. A cover would do but unless you think the Sooners are going to be horribly deflated from last week I don’t like their chances.
Spread Pick: Oklahoma -11.5
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Oklahoma 45 – Iowa State 24
