No. 5 Oklahoma Sooners at No. 22 Baylor Bears
Saturday, 11/19/11, 8:00 PM EST, TV: ABC
Opening Point Spread: Oklahoma -13.5
Current Betting Line: Oklahoma -15.5
Opening Total: 75
Current Total: 75
Odds Courtesy of Bookmaker
Oklahoma is certainly back in the discussion of potentially appearing in the BCS Championship Game and must not overlook Baylor despite winning all 20 prior meetings in this series. “And now that we’ve discussed that, all that matters is Baylor,” stated Sooners coach Bob Stoops about all the hypotheticals. The Sooners tallied a 53-24 win as eight-point road favorites in last year’s meeting, but only came away with a 101-yard edge statistically. Bettors will be interested in knowing that the two teams have alternated walking away with a spread victory in the last six meetings.
The Sooners tallied a 41-25 win over the Texas A&M Aggies before enjoying a bye week, but the victory was costly in losing wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who will finish his career as the all-time leader in NCAA history in receptions. Quarterback Landry Jones certainly has other weapons at his disposal, as he’s thrown 12 touchdowns in the last three games. He ranks second among all active signal-callers in averaging 321.9 passing yards per game. On the defensive end, the unit definitely gets after opposing quarterbacks, tallying 34 sacks in nine games.
Baylor has won its last two games and comes in off a thrilling 31-30 win over the Kansas Jayhawks as 20.5-point road favorites, something that isn’t very impressive given the opponent. The Bears offense is certainly explosive, averaging 567.4 yards per game, but the defense allows 459.3 yards on the other end. It’s still important to note that the unit is the only one in the country that averages over 300-plus passing and 200-plus rushing yards. Baylor is 2-4 ATS versus conference opponents this year, while the ‘over’ has cashed in five of those six games.
The Bears are led offensively by quarterback Robert Griffin III, who has completed 74.1 percent of his passes, while throwing just five interceptions in 363 pass attempts. His main target is wide receiver Kendall Wright, averaging nine catches and 119.2 receiving yards per game. Baylor must be respected even with its troubled defensively, playing the seventh-toughest schedule in college football. Griffin III will look to move the squad to 6-0 at home, throwing for 1,580 yards and 17 touchdowns without an interception five games inside Floyd Casey Stadium.
Bettors will likely back the Bears due to their 4-0 ATS mark at home, while the Sooners are 4-7 ATS when laying points away from Norman.
Don’t miss out on a winning season and let the college football handicappers at Maddux Sports line your pockets with cash. Long term packages are available now!
