#9 Oklahoma State Cowboys at Pittsburgh Panthers
Saturday, September 16, 2017, 12:00 pm Eastern, TV: ESPN
Heinz Field – Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Opening Line: Oklahoma State -10
Current Line: Oklahoma State -13
Opening Total: 68
Current Total: 63 1/2
Opening Money Line: OSU -525 / Pitt +415
Current Money Line: OSU -485 / Pitt +385
The Oklahoma State Cowboys are the #9 team in the country as they travel to the Pittsburgh Panthers Saturday. Oklahoma State won the only previous meeting against Pittsburgh last year in Stillwater 45-38.
Oklahoma State is coached by Mike Gundy. The Cowboys are 2-0 this season with wins at home over Tulsa 59-24 and last Friday night on the road at South Alabama 44-7. OSU is 2-0 ATS and the total is 1-1 this season. The Cowboys were 28 point favorites against South Alabama and the total was 68.
Pittsburgh is coached by Pat Narduzzi. The Panthers are 1-1 this season. Pitt beat Youngstown State 28-21 in overtime at home and last week lost at Penn State 33-14. This is the second straight week Pittsburgh will play a top ten team as the Nittany Lions are a top five team. The Panthers are 0-1-1 ATS and the total is 0-2 this season. Pittsburgh earned a push as a 19 point dog at Penn State and the total was 63.5.
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Oklahoma State is outscoring teams 52-16 this season. The Cowboys average 573 yards per game on offense including 325 passing and 248 rushing yards per game. On defense, OSU allows 304 yards per game including 161 passing yards and 143 rushing yards. The Cowboys are +2 in turnovers with 4 takeaways. Oklahoma State averages 38 penalty yards per game and opponents average 44 per game. The Cowboys have converted 14/27 on third and fourth downs and opponents are 19/39. OSU has forced 5 sacks and allowed 3 this season. The Cowboys are 9/11 scoring in the red zone with 6 touchdowns, and opponents are 3/6 with 2 touchdowns.
Quarterback Mason Rudolph has completed 73% of his passes for 638 yards with 6 touchdowns, and he also has 2 rushing touchdowns. Back-ups Keondre Wudtree and Taylor Cornelius have taken a few snaps as well in the two blowout wins for the Cowboys.
Running back Justice Hill has 26 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown, plus 7 catches for 56 yards. J.D. King has 14 carries for 159 yards and a touchdown. La’Darren Brown has 15 carries for 130 yards and a touchdown.
Wide receiver James Washington has 8 catches for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns. Marcell Ateman has 9 catches for 126 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tyron Johnson has 8 catches for 87 yards and a touchdown. Chris Lacy, Dillon Stoner and Jalen McCleskey each have at least five catches. Three linebackers are listed as questionable or out for the Cowboys.
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Pittsburgh is being outscored 27-21 this season. The Panthers average 345 yards per game on offense including 164 passing and 182 rushing yards per game. On defense, Pitt allows 365 yards per game including 238 passing yards and 128 rushing yards. The Panthers are -2 in turnovers with 4 giveaways. Pittsburgh averages 28 penalty yards per game and opponents average 30 per game. The Panthers have converted 20/40 on third and fourth downs and opponents are 10/25. Pitt has forced 2 sacks and allowed 8 this season. The Panthers are 7/10 scoring in the red zone with 5 touchdowns, and opponents are 5/7 with 4 touchdowns.
Quarterback Max Browne has completed 64.3% of his passes for 278 yards with a touchdown and 2 interceptions. Ben Dinucci has thrown for 49 yards and also has a rushing touchdown.
Running back Qadree Ollison has 37 carries for 187 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with 7 catches for 65 yards. Quadree Henderson has 11 carries for 72 yards, plus 3 catches. Darrin Hall and Chawntez Moss will also get some carries.
Receiver Jester Weah has 7 catches for 76 yards and a touchdown. Matt Flanagan has 5 catches for 54 yards. Rafael Araujo-Lopes has 5 catches for 47 yards. Maurice Ffrench has 5 catches for 28 yards.
Oklahoma State is 4-0 ATS in non-conference games, 5-1 in road games, 4-1 after allowing less than 100 rushing yards, after gaining more than 450 total yards, after passing for more than 280 yards, and overall, 6-2 after a straight up win by 20 points or more, 5-2 in September and after a straight up win, 2-6 after allowing less than 275 total yards, and 0-4 after allowing less than 170 passing yards.
Pittsburgh is 3-1-1 ATS against teams with winning records, 28-13-1 after a straight up loss, 7-19 at home, 5-15-1 in non-conference games, 1-3-1 after scoring less than 20 points, 1-4-1 in September, 1-5 against teams with winning road records, 0-3-1 overall and on grass.
Pittsburgh has struggled on offense in the first two games. Although they never led against Penn State, they were in the game for the most part. They did trail 28-6 early in the fourth, but pulled to within 28-14. They simply do not have the firepower to get into a shootout with the Cowboys. Pitt needs to control the clock with their running game. For Oklahoma State, they have improved drastically on defense, which was their biggest question mark coming into the season. I think the Cowboys roll in this game and score at least 40 points.
