Oklahoma State at Texas (Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET, ABC)
Spread: Texas -6
Last season’s matchup between Oklahoma State and Texas in Stillwater was one of the games of the year in college football, but it ended the same as each of the previous four games in the series have: with a victory for the ‘Pokes.
This has the potential to turn into a track-meet between a couple of high-powered offenses and two defenses that have shown plenty of holes in the early season.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Spencer Sanders has been excellent through three weeks, completing 67 percent of his passes with seven touchdowns to only one interception. It helps when you have the NCAA’s leading rusher, sophomore Chuba Hubbard, behind you to force defenses to commit an extra defender in the box to combat his explosiveness.
On the other side, Sam Ehlinger has been even better behind center for the Longhorns. Ehlinger was terrific in Texas’ loss to LSU. He’s completed 73% of his throws for the season with 11 touchdowns without an interception.
Texas’ run defense has been outstanding so far, and if they can keep Hubbard in check then Sanders will have a lot of pressure in his first conference start on the road. Look for Texas’ secondary to rise up and force a couple of turnovers that ultimately help the Longhorns snap the losing streak against the Cowboys, though the outcome will be closer than the Vegas spread.
Pick: Texas 38, Oklahoma State 34