The Red Raiders will play their fifth straight game against an AP Top 25 ranked opponent this weekend, as they go on the road to Stillwater and face Mike Gundy’s 7th-ranked Cowboys. The Pokes are coming off an impressive win in Waco, and will have an opportunity to stay atop the Big 12 standings with a win against Joey McGuire’s squad. Here’s what to watch for: Texas Tech vs Oklahoma State edition.
Watch For: Will the final look more like a basketball or football score?
The last 10 contests average over 78 points combined, with four games going over 86. That’s a lot of offense and some suspect-at-best defense. Derrick Mason’s defense has been solid aside from a Week 1 outlier as the team figured out his style for the first time, giving up just over 16 points per game over their last three contests. On the flip side, Tech has given up an average of 32 points over their last four games (again, all against ranked opponents) but have not faced an offensive anywhere near as explosive as the Cowboys’. OSU is 9th in the country in scoring at a tick over 46 points per game. Tech hasn’t faced an offense inside the top 45 and will be on the road. Points may come in bunches for the boys in orange.
Watch for: Two of the best
Spencer Sanders and Donovan Smith ranked 1st and 3rd, respectively, in total offense in the Big 12. Furthermore, they both rank inside the top 14 in Total Offense in the entire country. Both QB’s can throw it all over the yard and can tuck it and pick up yards when needed. The difference will be if Sanders can continue to limit his mistakes (only 2 INT’s), or if Smith will continue to make them (7 INT’s). As already stated, OSU can light up a scoreboard in a hurry. If Donovan Smith gives the Cowboy offense a short field, or gives the Poke defense a pick-6, it’s only going to make it that much harder to pull off a potential upset.
Watch for: “Special” teams
Oklahoma State is the only team in the Big 12 so far who has returned a kickoff for a touchdown. They lead the conference in kickoff return yards and return average. They also retuned a punt for a score. Not impressed yet? How about leading the conference in blocked kicks (2) and punts (tied-1st)? If the offense doesn’t scare you, and the defense doesn’t scare you, the special teams damn sure can.
Fun Series Facts:
OSU is 8-2 in the last 10 head-to-heads, and 14-6 over the last 20.
Last year’s contest had the lowest combined points total (23) in the last 33 meetings. Only the 1966 Tech win (10-7) had fewer.
OSU has scored 30 or less in 12 of the last 25 meetings, but only twice in the last 10.
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