Oklahoma vs Tulsa Odds: Sooners Huge Favorites in Instate Matchup

The No. 19 Oklahoma Sooners make the two-hour trip to Tulsa to face the Golden Hurricane on Saturday. The Sooners have dominated the series as of late, winning 13 of the last 14 meetings between the two schools. Tula’s last victory came in 1996. The Oklahoma vs Tulsa odds suggest the Sooners aren’t going to have much trouble with the Golden Hurricane in this one. Oklahoma is favored by 27.5 points and the total on the game is 60.

Sooners Doing the Job Defensively

Oklahoma’s offense is going to get a lot of attention. That’s to be expected when you average 50.5 points per game. But Oklahoma’s defense has been the big story through the first two games. The Sooners have allowed 11 points total. Arkansas State could well be the worst team in the Sun Belt Conference. But they’re still an FBS team in terms of recruiting, scholarships and the like. For the Sooners to beat Arkansas State 73-0 is a bit more impressive than Oregon beating Portland State 81-7.

Oklahoma followed that up with a 28-11 victory over a decent SMU team. After the Mustangs made it a 14-11 game in the fourth quarter, Dillon Gabriel threw for two fourth-quarter touchdowns to secure the win and cover the college football odds against SMU.

Gabriel has been solid through two games for the Sooners. He’s completed 38 of 49 passes for 484 yards and six touchdowns against no interceptions. Backup quarterback Jackson Arnold has completed all 11 of his passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The Sooners have rushed for 409 yards through their two games. But they need to bring their 4.3 yards per carry average up a bit.

Tulsa on Both Ends of Blowouts

The NCAA football scores have seen Tulsa win big and lose big. The Golden Hurricane opened the season with a 42-7 thumping of Arkansas-Pine Bluff, failing to cover the 41-point spread. Last week, it was Tulsa’s turn to be on the losing end of a thumping, falling to Washington 43-10. But Tulsa did sneak in there and cover the 33.5-point spread. The NCAAF schedules will be a little easier for Tulsa after this game.

Freshman Cardell Williams hasn’t played bad for Tulsa, throwing three touchdowns and one interception. Roman Fuller has also played quite a bit at quarterback for the Golden Hurricanes, who are waiting for Game 1 starter Braylon Braxton to come back from an injury. Tulsa has more than 400 passing and rushing yards through two games, so the offense has been balanced. But the Golden Hurricane are doing what you would expect considering the level of competition. Tulsa had 517 total yards against Pine Bluff and 318 against Washington.

The Golden Hurricane did a decent job running the football against the Huskies. But the only thing that did was keep Washington’s off the field a bit more. It wouldn’t be a shock to see Tulsa try to shorten this game, as well.

What to Expect

With the quarterback situation turning into a bit of a mess, Tulsa ran the ball 40 times against Washington and passed 32 times. Even though the Huskies had a 36-3 lead in the third quarter, Tulsa didn’t start throwing every down. It should be more of the same against the Sooners. Defensively, Tulsa is going to have to stop the run first. It will give up a couple of big passing plays. But Oklahoma can run the ball right at them if the Golden Hurricane make too much of an attempt to stop the pass.

The Sooners are going to run the ball and throw some passes to keep the defense honest. The Sooners ran the ball 49 times against Arkansas State and threw 33 times. Against SMU, Oklahoma ran the ball 47 times and threw 27 times. Oklahoma will run as long as it can and the Sooners should have some success against Tulsa.

Who to Bet On?

The Oklahoma vs Tulsa odds of Sooners -27.5 might be a shade higher than one would expect. But for the most part, a line of 27 to 28 points is pretty close to the talent disparity between the two NCAAF teams. The Sooners are a little more of a public team, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the point spread climb to 28.

The Oklahoma vs Tulsa odds on the total of 60 present a little bit of vale on the under. The Sooners have shown they like to run the ball more than 60% of the time. Tulsa ran more than it passed in a 33-point defeat, so as long as the Golden Hurricane stick with the run, there’s a decent chance this game lands under the total of 60.

For NCAAF betting news, odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

Can’t get enough? Here’s more!

• Louisiana-Monroe vs Texas A&M Odds: Can The Aggies Return to Form in Week 3?
• Quinn Ewers Stats: Texas Quarterback Off to Blistering Start
• Kansas State vs Missouri Odds: Kansas State Favored to Top Mizzou Once Again
• Chippewas vs Fighting Irish preview: Notre Dame Favored Against Central Michigan
• Western Michigan vs Iowa Odds: Are The Hawkeyes Capable of Scoring 30+ Points?