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Preview: Oklahoma State-TCU

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The Oklahoma State Cowboys have made it through eight games without losing. Whether this feat is impressive to you is subjective due to the lack of quality opponents the Cowboys have matched up with in those games. The TCU Horned Frogs are also undefeated and represent the best opponent the  Cowboys have played so far.

The Horned Frogs have yet to reach the meaty part of their schedule as well, with their only real road test being a victory over Minnesota (although they sweated out wins at Lubbock and Manhattan).  For the most part Gary Patterson’s group has been the more talented team in every game and they’ve taken care of business eight times.

The fact that the Cowboys were able to score 70 points against Texas Tech is impressive. However, this is only if you ignore the fact that the defense, which has been the strength of the all season, gave up 56 points.  Regardless, I’m not going to complain too much about a road victory, especially within the Big 12.

The Horned Frogs had their own struggles against Tech, needing a crazy touchdown catch from Aaron Green on a tipped pass to win the game 55-52.

Glenn Spencer’s unit will be tested again this week going up against an offense that scores 48.9 points per game.

TCU’s Offense

Trevone Boykin is one of the elite playmakers in college football right now. Boykin is currently sitting at 5th in the nation with 2,927 passing yards and his 28 touchdowns put him at 4th nationally. Oh yeah, he only has thrown five interceptions on the year as well.

When these two teams played last year Boykin threw for 410 yards and hadthree touchdown passes in an easy 42-9 victory over the Daxx Garman-led Cowboys.

Boykin is also a threat with his legs, rushing for 524 yards and 6 touchdowns. With Seth Russell of Baylor now out for the year, Boykin is hands down the best quarterback the Cowboys will face all year.

OSU defense

Defensive end Jimmy Bean is listed as questionable for the game on Saturday. Whether or not Bean plays will have a huge effect the pass the Cowboys are able to attack Boykin with. I also like the idea of a Emmanuel Ogbah playing pissed off after being left off the Lombardi Award list.

No matter what, the Cowboys defense will have to play A+ football against a team that’s scored over 40 points in every conference game. If anything, last week proved that the Cowboys can win a shootout. I honestly didn’t OSU could score enough to win when it allowed 56 points.

Key matchups

Boykin isn’t the only elite played TCU has on offense. Wide receiver Josh Doctson’s 1250 yards are the best of any receiver in the country. He also has 14 touchdowns on 71 receptions this year and will be a tough matchup for Kevin Peterson on the outside. In the blowout win last year, Doctson had seven catches for 225 yards and two touchdowns.

TCU also has a productive running game with Aaron Green leading the team with 731 yards and 8 TD’s. Green and Boykin are a great read option tandem that will keep the OSU defense from being too aggressive.

TCU’s defense has become vulnerable at times. I’m looking at 37 points allowed against SMU, 52 against Tech and 45 in a narrow victory over Kansas State.

I believe this is a somewhat even matchup with TCU being a slightly more talented team, but the fact that OSU is at home holds some weight. This game will be decided by big momentum plays, and the amount of pressure on Boykin will dictate those.

If Ogbah and Co. are able to chase him around and force him to throw off his back foot, turnovers will happen. However, if Boykin has time and is able to get comfortable in the pocket then TCU’s offense could be too much.

OSU offense

Mason Rudolph needs to show more consistency in this game. I only want to see J.W. Walsh inside the five-yard line to score touchdown. Hopefully Rudolph can get the offense moving to the point where he can take about 95 percent of the offensive snaps.

Any hope of Chris Carson and Rennie Childs developing in to high-powered running backs may be gone, but Raymond Taylor has shown legitimate potential. Taylor gashed Tech’s defense with two touchdowns, including an impressive 28-yarder. If Taylor were to get a majority of the carries on Saturday you won’t hear me complaining.

Prediction time

The Cowboys cannot afford to go down early against the Horned Frogs like they did against Tech. Even though this is a 2:30 start, BPS should be packed and the fans should be rowdy. If the Cowboys can use the crowd to their advantage I really like their chances. It will take a near-perfect game for OSU to win and think this team is ready to take this next step.

Prediction: OSU 41, TCU 37

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