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This Arizona Wildcats vs. Oklahoma State Cowboys betting preview is courtesy of our good friends at Sportsbook.com.
The Line & Total: Oklahoma State -14 & 66.5
Opening Line & Total: OSU-13.5 & 65
Two explosive passing offenses square off in Stillwater on Thursday night in a rematch of the 2010 Alamo Bowl, in which Oklahoma State crushed Arizona 36-10.
Cowboys WR Justin Blackmon, who lit up the Wildcats last year with 117 receiving yards and 2 TD, had 144 of OSU’s nation’s-best 458 receiving yards in his team’s 61-34 win over Louisiana-Lafayette last week. Arizona also had a big offensive showing in a 41-10 win over Northern Arizona, but the competition is much stiffer on Thursday night with ninth-ranked Oklahoma State. The Wildcats have lost 12 straight road games to Top-10 teams by an average of 18.5 PPG. They have also not been a strong road team recently, going 6-12 ATS (33%) in the past three seasons away from home. In this same span, OSU is 13-8 ATS (62%) at home and 9-5 ATS (64%) in non-conference games.
Wildcats QB Nick Foles, who threw for 3 INT in the Alamo Bowl defeat, was nearly flawless in Week 1, going 34-of-42 for 412 yards, 5 TD and 0 INT in a 41-10 win over Northern Arizona. He found his favorite target Juron Criner six times for 151 yards (25.2 avg) and a touchdown. Problem for the Wildcats is that Criner will be out for this game (illness).
Brandon Weeden made some mistakes in the season-opening win over the Ragin’ Cajuns, throwing three picks. But he also threw for 388 yards and was the biggest reason his team led the nation with 666 total yards. Weeden threw for a school-record 4,277 passing yards last year, and will continue to look for Blackmon who is riding a streak of 13 straight 100-yard receiving efforts, the longest such streak in NCAA history.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
