2009 Oklahoma at Miami Point Spread Odds & Matchup Report

Last Updated on September 29, 2009 2:24 pm by drew

Oklahoma-Miami Odds

Miami,
FL – A brutal schedule to start the season finally caught up to Miami as it suffered its first loss last week.

 

Things don’t get any easier for the Hurricanes as they try to bounce back against an Oklahoma team riding a two-game shutout streak and hoping to have its Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback under center again.

Bet College Football Week 5

The eighth-ranked Sooners hope Sam Bradford can return from a two-game absence and complement their outstanding defense Saturday night when they visit the No. 17 Hurricanes, playing their fourth consecutive game against a ranked opponent.

Oddsmakers from online sports book SBGGLOBAL have made

Oklahoma -7 point spread favorites (View College Football odds) for Saturday’s game (Game Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 60% of bets for this game have been placed on

Oklahoma -7 (View College Football bet percentages).

Bradford won the Heisman last season and finished with 4,720 yards and 50 touchdown passes. He decided to return to

Oklahoma for another chance at a national title after falling short in the championship game in January, but the 2009 season got off to a rocky start when he suffered a shoulder injury in a season-opening 14-13 loss to then-No. 20 BYU.

Coach Bob Stoops said "everything has been positive" in
Bradford‘s recovery, but he refused to assess the junior’s chances of playing this week.

"We’ll just see how the week goes," Stoops said. "… We just have to feel comfortable that he’s healthy, that he feels good enough to make the throws we need to make and he’s ready to do it."

Stoops has to feel comfortable with
Bradford‘s replacement. Freshman Landry Jones has completed 43 of 69 passes for 622 yards, nine touchdowns and three interceptions in his first two starts. He set a school record with six TD passes Sept. 19, matching the NCAA freshman mark in a 45-0 win over

Tulsa.

"The game plan is similar for each," Stoops said. "They’re similar. It’s not like one’s a scrambling, wildcat type of guy and you’ve got a whole different ballgame for him. As far as game plan, that’s not challenging in that we’ll have the same one for both of them."

Jones has gotten plenty of help from

Oklahoma‘s defense as the Sooners (2-1) have dominated opponents over their last two games. They routed
Idaho
State 64-0 on Sept. 12 before blowing out

Tulsa, recording back-to-back shutouts for the first time since 1987.

Tulsa, which has averaged 45.7 points in its other three games, boasted the nation’s top offense each of the last two seasons and hadn’t been blanked in five years. The Sooners held the Golden Hurricane to 269 yards, their lowest output since a bowl loss to

Utah in 2006.

Despite the impressive performance, Stoops found some fundamental flaws in his team’s defense that he wants fixed before the showdown with the explosive Hurricanes.

"I still thought going through it we have some basic issues that we could have been quite a bit better," Stoops said. "I don’t think that for us, it’s not being too picky. Our players see it. There’s a few run plays that we weren’t position that we should have been."

The Hurricanes (2-1) were able to exploit defensive mistakes in wins over then-No. 18

Florida State and then-No. 14

Georgia Tech. However, they were shut down last Saturday, totaling 209 yards in a 31-7 loss at then-No. 11

Virginia Tech.

Sophomore Jacory Harris, getting rave reviews and some Heisman hype after opening the season strong, was 9 for 25 for 150 yards, no touchdowns, one interception and a lost fumble while constantly getting hounded by the Hokies’ defense.

"I take all the blame for what happened tonight," Harris said.

Harris wasn’t

Miami‘s only problem last week, but coach Randy Shannon sees the poor overall performance as a valuable lesson for the young Hurricanes.

"It’s a great situation for us to learn as a football team,"
Shannon said. "Yeah, we won two good games against two big, tough teams, but we had to come back and be ready in the third game against Virginia Tech and we didn’t do it. So now, we’ve got to step up and get ready for

Oklahoma."

Shannon said the Hurricanes are going "back to basics" this week. By his count,

Miami missed 17 tackles that gave the Hokies 180 extra yards. He said the Hurricanes dropped eight passes, all but one of those potentially being first downs or touchdowns.

Oklahoma cruised to a 51-13 home win over rebuilding

Miami in the teams’ last meeting Sept. 8, 2007, to even the series at three wins apiece. The Hurricanes have a 2-1 edge in

Miami, where the teams haven’t met since squaring off for the national championship in the Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 1988.

In that game, second-ranked

Miami beat No. 1 Oklahoma 20-14 to win its second national title.

Bet College Football Week 5

Posted: 9/29/09 2:24PM ET