Tulsa Preview

Teams: #7 Oklahoma State 2-0 (0-0) vs. Tulsa 1-1 (1-0)
Time: 9:10 PM CST
TV: FSN (Cox: 37/722 | UVerse: 753/1753 | DirecTV: 676/679 | Dish Network: 416)
On the call: Ron Thulin, J.C. Pearson and Jeremy Bloom (God help us all)

For entertainment purposes:
Spread: OSU -13.5
Over/Under: 67.5

Tulsa put up 14 on OU in Norman so you have to think they’re going to probably double that at home against an improving (but still not as good as OU’s defense) OSU defense. OSU should be in the 40s (at least). You have to bang the over here, don’t you?

Of course as Amilian pointed out the other day, this OSU team could be playing at Indiana in mid-December in a driving snowstorm and the o/u could be 88.5 and I’d take the over. That’s how rational I am about these things.

Also, why is the Tulsa spread the same as the Arizona spread?

What you need to know about Tulsa:
After they play at Boise next weekend, Tulsa will have faced three of the top seven teams in the country in the first four weeks. Somebody should be fired for that.

They’re the smallest D-1 school in the country but have amassed double-digit wins in three of the last four years.

GJ Kinne is the only QB in school history to throw for 6,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in his career. Last year he threw for 3,650 and 31 (the great Nick Foles went 3,191 and 20 for reference). He has a QB rating of 152.4, Weeden’s is 152.7.

They lost their Justin Blackmon earlier this year after he pulled a Peter Warrick at a Tulsa Macy’s which obviously stings as he averaged 15 yards a catch and 10 yards a rush last season.

Player to watch on Tulsa:
Junior h-back Willie Carter had 135 yards against OU in the opener (although 44 came in the 4th quarter). He averages 6.8 rushing yards and 15.8 yards per reception for his career (even though he hasn’t seen a ton of playing time). Not somebody OSU wants to let get going early.

Last year:
Last year I remember being worried that OSU was going to lose at home to a pretty good Tulsa team that ended up winning 10 games. Then Brandon Weeden went for 409 and 6, the school yards record fell, and the Cowboys never looked back.

Before you pile on me for hating, remember this was before OSU really emerged as a powerhouse in the Big 12. They had thumped Washington State and squeaked by Troy and none of us really knew what was coming.

Video to get you excited:

A few stats you should know:

What I’m excited for:
It’ll be good just to see this team get back on the field. It’s only been 9 days but it feels about 9 weeks since the Arizona rout. Tulsa should be a good warmup for College Station next weekend, unless you throw a few picks early, fumble the ball around, and let them hang around into the 3rd quarter…

OSU will win if:
They turn the ball over fewer than 5 times.

How worried I am (out of 10):

Uniform prediction: