Tulsa at Oklahoma St – College Football Predictions
The Game
Get cho’ popcone !
Two explosive offenses will be featured in a potentially epic scoring-fest. The Cowboys are fully on the DEGENERATE RADAR this season with huge expectations and an offense that makes even the most anti-gambling dude wanna plunk down $500K to be a part of the fireworks extravaganza. The Cowboys are sure to be reminded of the DEBACLE last season when they “lost” to the Chips at home as yuuuge favorites. Tulsa is an emerging JUGGERNAUT and only lost three games last season. Ohio St, Houston, Navy. Can they build on their 10-win season from a year ago with so many new faces on offense and give the Pokes a scare ? Let’s dig in.
The Details
OKLAHOMA ST 17 TULSA (74)
MEGALOCKS LINE – Oklahoma St 17
“Vegas” Implied Projected Score: Oklahoma St 45.5 Tulsa 28.5
Massey Ratings Projected Score: Oklahoma St 42 Tulsa 33
The Match-Up
Oklahoma St offense vs Tulsa defense
This should be fun. Yes we are drinking the Oklahoma St Kool-Aid. QB Mason Rudolph looks poised to have a fantastic season and is going to make like difficult for the Tulsa defense. The Pokes have some serious TRIPLETS with Rudolph at QB, 1,000-yard RB Justice Hill and super-talented WR James Washington. The offensive line returns three starters and has good size. Assuming there is not a turnover fiasco the Cowboys should be able to score into the 40s without a problem.
Now to be fair, the Tulsa defense is not chopped liver, and in fact they were pretty good last season. This year they bring back a pair of nice DEs and a really good secondary that allowed just 53.4% (!) completions last season. The problem we see is that Oklahoma St is going to be a balanced nightmare and will be able to run the ball very well in this game. At least in our opinion. Tulsa will have to really excel on third downs to give themselves a shot.
Tulsa offense vs Oklahoma St defense
Tulsa was just SICK last year on offense. We loved watching them rip teams to shreds. Is that wrong ? This year there are some question marks, however, and it all starts at the QB position. They lose their fine QB Dane Evans and will start a very inexperienced signal caller in this game. MEGALOCKS TULSA QB BATTLE INSIDERS believe that redshirt freshman Luke Skipper has a slight lead over sophomore Chad President. Whomever wins the battle will be without a PAIR (!) of 1,000-yard receivers from last season’s squad. The good news is that the offensive line should hold up just fine in this game and they still have a 1,400 yard rusher from last campaign returning to the mix. Tulsa projects to move the ball BUT we are worried quite a bit about how an inexperienced QB will handle a tough road assignment like this one.
The Cowboys have the benefit of facing an inexperienced QB but Tulsa boasts a very balanced offense that is going to provide a stern test. The Cowboys gave up 446 yards per game on defense last year and were pretty mediocre against the run and the pass. They did manage to bag 32 sacks in 2016 but they face a pretty good offensive line in this one. It all comes down to QB play #HotTake. If Tulsa can get just average production in the passing game they are almost certainly going to stick around because of their ground attack and offensive line. This will be an interesting battle.
MEGA MIGHTY MORSELS
The last time these two teams met the final score was 59-33…….That was back in 2011…..Tulsa last tasted victory in Stillwater in 1951…..Keep in mind that this game is a BIG deal for Tulsa who would love to make an Oklahoma-wide statement.
Summary
MEGALOCKS DEEP INSIDERS know that we are high on both teams this season. Tulsa should be able to run the ball and have some nice pieces on defense. That balances out the inexperience at QB and makes us feel that 17 is the perfect number.
Conclusion
Official play: None.
Lean: This game looks perfectly lined. We are tempted by the under BUT both teams play fast – especially Tulsa.