Date: October 24, 2015
Time: 2:30 pm
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders
Bad Guys: Oklahoma Sooners
Location: Gaylord Family Oklahoma Memorial Stadium | Norman, Oklahoma
Weather: 60% Chance of Showers, High 74, Low 55
TV/Stream: ABC/ESPN2 (complete channel listing via LSUFootball.net)
Radio: Broadcast Affiliates and TuneIn App
Vegas: Oklahoma opens as 14.5 point favorites and that line has moved to 15 (via OddsShark)
Last Week: I did not see this on the horizon as Oklahoma throttled Kansas State, 55-0 (ESPN box score). Coming off of what looks like a terrible loss to Texas, Oklahoma whipped up on Kansas State in every way possible. The Wildcats were held to 110 yards total. Yes, total, while Baker Mayfield was terrific, completing 20 of 27 for 282 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Get caught up on all of the Big 12 action at LandGrant Gauntlet
What’s at Stake: For Oklahoma, the Sooners are looking to move to 3-1 in conference play, after having beat West Virginia fairly easily, then losing to Texas by 7 and then putting the hurt on Kansas State. For Texas Tech, this is one of those games that’s probably been circled for a while as Baker Mayfield guides the Sooners. I would guess that some Red Raiders would like to see a win because it’s him, but truthfully, Texas Tech should want a win for reasons not at all related to Mayfield, but more because this team needs another quality win (this presumes that the Arkansas win is a quality win as they sit 2-5, but do have a win over Tennessee).
Four Key Players:
- QB Baker Mayfield (6-1/209): For the year, Mayfield has completed 67% of his passes for 1,875 yards, 19 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. I always thought that Mayfield would be just fine to very good if he could reign in his turnovers and that’s been the case thus far.
- WR Sterling Shepard (5-10/193): Shepard has 30 catches for 499 yards and 5 touchdowns, while averaging about 83 yards receiving per game and 16 yards per catch. Those are big numbers and Oklahoma is doing a much better job of getting the ball down the field as the top three receivers all average over 15 yards a catch.
- LB Eric Striker (6-0/222): Striker has been criticized a bit because he’s really a guy that doesn’t have a position, a lot like Pete Robertson. He is very good at what he does, which is rush the passer, but against the run, he’s a bit of a liability (weighing only 222 and all). For the year, Striker has 35 tackles, including 10 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks on the year.
- Dominique Alexander (6-0/220): Alexander leads the team with 50 tackles on the year and from all appearances, he’s been one of the more consistent defenders thus far this year. Aside from the 50 tackles, Alexander also has 5 tackles for loss, half a sack and a pass broken up.
Miscellaneous: The offense has been very good thus far, moving up to 18th overall in total offense and 13th in scoring offense . . . although I would guess that some fans are probably disappointed that the Sooners are only 82nd in rushing offense . . the defense has been very good, despite allowing Texas to run a bit on them, the Sooners are still only allowing 321 yards a game, good for 23rd overall . . .