The Oklahoma State Cowboys may have dropped from 21 to 22 in the AP Poll, but they remain the favorites of fans betting on NCAA football to beat the Central Michigan Chippewas on Saturday, September 10th at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater. The online football betting odds are as follows:
Central Michigan +21 (-110) 61 (-110) +950
Oklahoma State -21 (-110) 61 (-110) -1450
The Cowboys bested the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in a 61-7 blowout in their season-opening game on September 3rd. The win may have been par for the course, but there are nonetheless several important takeaways. For example, OSU improved to 22-4 in their last 26 non-conference games, 6-5 in their last 51 games against unranked opponents, 69-41-5 all-time in season openers, 82-28-5 all-time in home openers, and 10-0 against teams from the NCAA’s Football Championship Subdivision under head coach Mike Gundy. It was also their eighth win in their last nine season openers, 21st straight win in a home opener. Additionally, it was the 11th time the Cowboys score 60 or more points with Gundy. Fourteen OSU players caught passes, but Jhajuan Seales led them all with three receptions – including two TD passes from QB Mason Rudolph – for 61 receiving yards.
The Chippewas also made short work of their season opener opponents the Presbyterian Blue Hose, defeating them 49-3 on September 1st. Central Michigan had more rushing yards than passing yards, but really, when you have a QB called Rush, you don’t expect him to throw the ball that much, do you? If he were named Cooper Throw, that would be a ‘nother whole story, but that isn’t the case. Junior running back Devon Spalding finished with 135 yards, including a 69-yard rushing touchdown. Meanwhile, freshman running back Jonathan Ward rushed 79 yards and another touchdown. That should hold those fans betting on NCAA football who criticized the Chippewas last year for not being a running team. In fact, they can run as fast as the Wendigo of actual Chippewa lore.
All things considered, however, the Cowboys can’t won’t overlook Rush. The senior QB – the No. 7 quarterback prospect for the 2017 NFL Draft per CBSSports.com, which projects him to be a fourth-round pick – threw 28 of 41 for 225 passing yards and rushed 51 yards for a TD against OSU last year (though the Cowboys won the game 24-13 nevertheless). Oklahoma State QB Rudolph also had a low-profile season opener finishing 18 of 26 for 188 passing yards and two TDs, but he’s not someone to sleep on, either. Rudolph completed 264 passes of 424 attempts (62.3%) for 3770 yards with 21 TDs and 9 interceptions in 2015. Fans betting on college football might trust that since the Chippewas’ lost to the Cowboys last year was relatively even affair, they could actually pull the upset this season. The fact remains though that OSU has gradually gotten better ever since. Therefore, the gap between the two programs may have widened rather that closed in the intervening time.
