Seven Things to Know as Oklahoma State Goes for the Upset Over No. 6 Texas

Saturday’s game could (somewhat surprisingly) match its uniform combo matchup. Vegas currently has a curious line at Texas -3 even though 1. Texas hasn’t lost in two months 2. OSU does not look physical enough to beat Stillwater High right now and 3. OSU has only beaten Texas once in Stillwater since 1997, and it took several future NFL players to do it.

Regardless, Saturday should be interesting, and there are seven things you should know about the 33rd all-time meeting between Oklahoma State and Texas.

1. Get to 40: OSU is 69-7 when scoring 40+ points under Mike Gundy. The losses are all pretty memorable and include just one in which OSU scored 50 or more (last year’s Bedlam game).

• Iowa State 2018
• Bedlam 2017
• Kansas State 2017
• Bedlam 2012
• Bedlam 2010
• Nebraska 2010
• Bedlam 2008

2. Texas at No. 6: I guess I’m still a little stunned that Texas is the No. 6 team in the country coming into this week. It marks the highest-ranked opponent OSU has hosted since Bedlam 2015 (WHICH DID NOT GO WELL!) OSU is 6-16 under Gundy against top 10 teams and only has 17 wins ever over top-10 opponents, however they do have three straight over top 25 teams.

3. Biggest win since … This would be a weird big win for OSU as I don’t really think Texas is all that great and OSU’s season isn’t going much of anywhere at this point. I suppose under the right circumstances (like, say, Spencer Sanders lighting up Caden Sterns to the tune of a 45-21 blowout) it could be a program-changer, but even if the Pokes win it likely won’t resonate like their other big time Ws over top 10 teams. The last time OSU beat a team ranked this high? No. 5 TCU at home in 2015.

4. Home disadvantage: I wrote about the OSU-Texas series history earlier on Friday, but I didn’t realize at the time that OSU … has only beaten Texas twice ever (EVER!) in Stillwater, USA. Pair that with the fact that OSU has now lost five of its last seven Big 12 games at home, and the trends do not point to an OSU victory.

5. Hopeful Homecoming help: OSU is 53-36-7 all time in HoCo games but 9-2 in their last 11 and 31-15 in their last 46.

6. Forget 40, just get to halftime: One streak that ended in Manhattan that has pointed to Pokes wins of late is leading at halftime. OSU has won 19 of its last 20 when leading at the half, including one against UT (the teams were tied at 7 last year when OSU limped home to a 13-10 win).

7. Justice’s rise: Justice Hill needs 117 yards on the ground to usurp Tatum Bell from No. 7 all time in rushing yardage. It would also bump his career average back over 100 (he’s currently at 99.8). Last time he played a top-10 team in BPS, he had 228 and 2 TDs and was the best player on the field for most of the night.