Ole Miss vs. Texas Tech Total Prediction
After some improvement shown a year ago, Texas Tech’s defense shouldn’t be the same disaster it has been under head coach Kliff Kingsbury. That said, will the Red Raiders’ matchup with Ole Miss on Saturday still result in a shootout?
Game Snapshot
197 Ole Miss Rebels vs. 198 Texas Tech Red Raiders
12:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 1, 2018
NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Red Raiders are 2.5-point favorites to beat the Rebels. The total, meanwhile, sits at 67 points. As of this writing, 56% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Red Raiders.
Ole Miss Rebels
Ole Miss redshirt junior RB Eric Swinney will be sidelined for three weeks due to an illness. Swinney is suffering from mononucleosis, otherwise known as “mono.” It’s highly contagious meaning he will likely be away from the team for quite some time. A truly unlucky break, Swinney will surely miss contests against Texas Tech, Southern Illinois, and Alabama with a potential return against Kent in Week 4. He rushed for 195 yards on 41 carries last season but was expected to open the season as the No. 2 back.
Texas Tech Red Raiders
Texas Tech named freshman QB Alan Bowman one of three co-starters for Saturday’s game against Mississippi. And here’s where we really see the new redshirt rule coming into play. Is it possible Bowman might have been listed as a co-starter for the opener in 2018? Perhaps, but the fact that Tech can now play Bowman in three games and still not exhaust a year of his eligibility now makes it a lot easier to see what they have in the 6-foot-3, 210-pound signal-caller. Expect Bowman to be third in line behind McLane Carter and Jett Duffey, but he has a chance to earn the starting job if he plays well against Ole Miss and — most likely — Lamar.
Betting Trends
Ole Miss
The Rebels are 5-13-1 against the spread in their last 19 games overall.
Texas Tech
The Red Raiders are 1-4 against the number in their last five games versus SEC opponents.
Prediction
A young Red Raider defense took a step forward last year and returns nearly every starter but I still see this game turning into a shootout on Saturday. You know Kingsbury’s offense is going to put up plenty of points, especially against a Rebel defense that struggled last season. Meanwhile, Ole Miss will have one of the best passing games in the country thanks to quarterback Jordan Ta’amu throwing to All-American A.J. Brown, DaMarkus Lodge and D.K. Metcalf. It’s reasonable that both of these teams get into the 40s.
College Football Prediction: Ole Miss/Texas Tech over 67