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College football Week 8: 5 teams on upset alert

By Cody Williams

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Saquon Barkley #26 and Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions stand behind the line of scrimmage during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers on September 30, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Indiana 45-14. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)
UNIVERSITY PARK, PA - SEPTEMBER 30: Saquon Barkley #26 and Trace McSorley #9 of the Penn State Nittany Lions stand behind the line of scrimmage during the first half against the Indiana Hoosiers on September 30, 2017 at Beaver Stadium in University Park, Pennsylvania. Penn State defeats Indiana 45-14. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images) /
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STILLWATER, OK – OCTOBER 14: Oklahoma State Cowboys wide receiver James Washington (28) runs along the sidelines headed for a touchdown during the big 12 football game between the Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 14, 2017 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
STILLWATER, OK – OCTOBER 14: Oklahoma State Cowboys wide receiver James Washington (28) runs along the sidelines headed for a touchdown during the big 12 football game between the Baylor Bears and the Oklahoma State Cowboys on October 14, 2017 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. (Photo by William Purnell/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

3. Oklahoma State Cowboys

Rank: No. 10, Opponent: Texas Longhorns

Mason Rudolph and the Oklahoma State Cowboys can undeniably put up points. Averaging an incredible 48.8 per game through their first six games of the season, they can burn teams time and again and put up big numbers in the process. Just ask the Baylor Bears, who they dropped 59 points on last week. However, one of the interesting things about the Cowboys is that they haven’t been tested that often in terms of the quality of defense that they’ve played.

It’d be fair to say that the Cowboys have played only one defense this season that anyone would construe as being “good”, and that happened to be the TCU Horned Frogs. Not by mistake, Oklahoma State’s one loss on the season to date came in that game as they managed only 31 points on the day. What’s more, their defense allowed 44 points in that game, and then allowed 34 the following week in a battle with Texas Tech. Thus, we can see that their offense isn’t infallible and their defense is susceptible as well.

Now the Cowboys travel south to Austin to take on the Texas Longhorns, a team who seems capable of taking advantage in both regards. With Sam Ehlinger at quarterback, Tom Herman has found the guy to lead the program back to prominence. On top of that, the Malik Jefferson led defense is one of the most underrated in the country, stifling Oklahoma to only 29 points just last week. Subsequently, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Texas pick up a monstrous home win.

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