Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech Prediction, Game Preview

Football-wise, there’s no way this can’t be fun. Oklahoma (7-0) is still dealing with the aftermath of the horrific tragedy before last week’s 58-10 win over Kansas – four people died and dozens were injured when a woman ran her car into a crowd at a homecoming parade. Now the Cowboys have to travel to Texas Tech (5-3) for what’s almost certainly going to be one of the day’s wildest shootouts. Check out the Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech prediction and game preview.

Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech Game Preview

Broadcast

Date: Saturday, Oct. 31
Game Time 3:30 pm
Venue: Jones AT&T Stadium, Lubbock, TX

Network: ESPN

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Why You Need To Care

Oklahoma State hasn’t ripped through its schedule on the way to 7-0 like Baylor did and Oklahoma is starting to do, but it’s unbeaten with everything setting up perfectly. This is it in terms of dangerous road games – the final one is at Iowa State in two weeks – with TCU, Baylor and Oklahoma all having to come to Stillwater. After winning the first three Big 12 games by a total of 12 points, it came up with a nice breather against Kansas, rolling to a 58-10 win despite the day’s events. Will this be when OSU starts to consistently crank things up to a whole other level? It needs to or else TCU will be a problem.

Texas Tech is hardly desperate, but it’s going to have to fight to get the sixth win and bowl eligibility with road games at West Virginia and Texas, along with a home game against Kansas State. After being the one team that struggled against Kansas, and after being blown away by Oklahoma, It’s time to ramp up the machine again and take advantage of the key home date. The Red Raiders aren’t in the Big 12 title chase, but they can certainly screw OSU up.

Why Oklahoma State Will Win

How do you slow down Texas Tech? Get to Patrick Mahomes. Kansas was stunningly able to get into the Red Raider backfield, and the Tech offense started to bog down at times. OSU has one of the steadiest pass rushes in the Big 12, cranking out 28 sacks on the year able with several key plays in tight games. Texas Tech gets the ball out of the quarterbacks’ hands in a hurry, but it’ll have to be a half click faster against the OSU front four and a secondary that’s been a rock at times lately. West Virginia and Kansas combined to hit just 30-of-67 passes over the last two games – if Texas Tech isn’t cranking up 65% of its throws, the O will bog down.

Why Texas Tech Will Win

The Red Raider offense has been outstanding on third downs. It doesn’t translate into time of possession – the team couldn’t care less about how long it holds on to the ball – but the O has bene fantastic at keeping defenses on their heels. Even in the blowout loss to Oklahoma, Tech converted 12-of-18 third down chances and killed Iowa State by nailing 11-of-15 tries. Oklahoma State’s offense is also phenomenal on third downs, but Texas Tech needs to keep pace by doing what it does – throw and keep throwing. The Cowboys have yet to face the passing game big boys in the Big 12, and now comes the avalanche.

Player Who Matters

Mason Rudolph is the Oklahoma State star quarterback everything works around, but senior J.W. Walsh has found an interesting niche. Not only is he the leader and emotional tone-setter at times, but he’s the closer. On the year he’s only thrown 18 passes, but he’s completed 14 of them with seven touchdowns and no picks, dominating around the goal line. A tough, determined runner, he came up with three scores against Kansas on just 24 yards with six on the year, while proving to be a steadying force at times when the offense is struggling. He’s the reason OSU is seventh in the nation in red zone offense – he always produces.

What’s Going To Happen?

It’ll be a whole bunch of fun with lots of offense, plenty of big plays, and well over 1,000 yards. Texas Tech will play well at home, but the Cowboys have a pass rush and a defense – the Red Raiders don’t.