The Boise State Broncos will test their moxie on Saturday as they go on the road to face the Oklahoma State Cowboys in a matchup between ranked squads.
One joke that always plays for college football fans is talking about defense in the Big 12. It’s an offensive-minded conference, without question, but that often makes for an exciting and high-scoring brand of football. However, the Oklahoma State Cowboys won’t have to wait until conference play to get into that type of matchup with the Boise State Broncos coming to town this week.
Both Boise State and Oklahoma State enter this game with unbeaten records after two weeks, but both teams have also beaten up on inferior competition to this point. For the Broncos, that meant dropping 56 points on Troy and following that up with 62 points against UConn. Meanwhile, the Cowboys put up 58 on Missouri State and then 55 on South Alabama.
What’s interesting about Mike Gundy’s Cowboys is the changes that they’ve undergone from last year. They lost their starting quarterback and the major contributors in their receiving corps to the NFL Draft. Taylor Cornelius has stepped up at quarterback to this point, spreading the ball around to new faces. And running back Justice Hill is primed to play a key role, but this team as it’s currently constructed appears untested to this point.
That’s not necessarily the case for the Broncos, however. Brett Rypien is one of the best quarterbacks in college football that no one is talking about. He’s a veteran and proven winner, and has lit up defenses to this point in the year. While he’s not faced talent the level of what he’ll see on Saturday, he and running back Alexander Mattison have the potential to continue putting big numbers on the scoreboard.
Details for Saturday’s Game
Date: Saturday, Sept. 15, 2018
Start Time: 3:30 p.m. ET
Location: Stillwater, OK
Stadium: Boone Pickens Stadium
TV Info: ESPN
Live Stream: FuboTV, Watch ESPN
The Cowboys are slight favorites at home, but that truly seems to be the biggest reason that they’re favorites. What is clear, however, is that the oddsmakers expect there to be a ton of scoring in this matchup as it’s a high Over/Under line.
Betting Odds (Courtesy of Odds Shark)
Point Spread: Oklahoma State -2
Moneyline: Oklahoma State -130, Boise State +110
Over/Under: 65
Prediction
While the narrative for this game is largely about Boise State taking on Power 5 competition, perhaps the bigger thing to watch is Oklahoma State’s young team being truly tested for the first time. This team has experienced massive turnover, and that results in inexperience in this type of game. As such, I’m going to take the veteran Broncos to come out on top in this matchup.
Final Score: Boise State 38, Oklahoma State 30