Iowa State vs. Oklahoma Spread Pick
The Iowa State Cyclones are off to a slow start to the season after losing last week to in-state rival Iowa. Now the Cyclones face juggernaut Oklahoma in their Big 12 opener and are a double-digit home dog. After pulling off one of the biggest upsets of the season a year ago, can ISU at least cover versus the Sooners this time around?
Game Snapshot
127 Oklahoma Sooners at 128 Iowa State Cyclones
12:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, September 15, 2018
Jack Trice Stadium, Ames, Iowa
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Sooners are 18-point favorites to beat the Cyclones. The total, meanwhile, sits at 54 points. As of this writing, 67% of the public betting tickets wagered on this matchup are on the Sooners.
Oklahoma Sooners
Oklahoma announced that redshirt junior RB Rodney Anderson (knee) will miss the remainder of the season. The injury occurred in Saturday’s 49-21 win over UCLA. For Anderson, it’s just the latest setback in an injury-marred career. As a true frosh in 2015, he suffered a season-ending broken leg in Week 2 vs. Tennessee. The next summer in camp, Anderson suffered a fractured vertebra that ended his season before it began. Last year, working his way back to health, Anderson didn’t get much work until Oct. 21 against K-State. But in OU’s last eight games, Anderson went ballistic, averaging 134.9 rushing yards, 1.375 rushing TD, 1.75 catches, 31.75 receiving yards and 0.625 receiving TD per game. In May, Rotoworld’s Thor Nystrom ranked Anderson as the No. 2 RB in the 2019 NFL Draft. But now we’d expect Anderson to return to school. What amounts to a nine-game sample size of excellence just isn’t enough to offer the NFL in conjunction with his durability issues. Were Anderson to return, remain healthy, and star, he could rehab his stock. But the durability concerns are real.
Iowa State Cyclones
It remains unclear whether Iowa State redshirt senior QB Kyle Kempt (knee) will be able to play against Oklahoma on Saturday. Kempt (6’5/224) was fitted for a brace earlier in the week. He’s been working his way back from a knee injury he sustained versus Iowa last Saturday. Cyclones HC Matt Campbell has described the redshirt senior’s issue as one of “day-to-day” concern, but the team has yet to announce one way or another on Kempt’s starting status for Saturday. Unless news breaks over the transom later on Friday, we may have to wait until gameday itself for this story to reach its conclusion. Zeb Noland would start in Kempt’s place if he’s physically unable to give it a go against the Sooners.
Betting Trends
Oklahoma
The Sooners have covered the spread in five of their last six conference games but are just 1-4 against the number in their last five road games.
Iowa State
The Cyclones have covered the number in 10 of their last 12 home games.
Prediction
While I certainly don’t expect the Cyclones to pull off another upset this season versus the Sooners, they do have the defensive talent to give Oklahoma problems again. This number feels inflated based on Oklahoma’s two-week performance and ISU’s tumble a week ago versus Iowa. The Cyclones are 22-12 against the spread under coach Matt Campbell as an underdog and 9-3 against the number as a double-digit dog. They seemingly thrive in this role under Campbell and despite issues at quarterback, I’ll grab the 18.
College Football Prediction: Iowa State Cyclones +18