Friday Night College Football Oklahoma State @ Iowa State Odds, Free Picks and Predictions – Week 11 NCAA Football Spreads and Odds

Week 11 Free College Football Picks and Spreads: Oklahoma St Cowboys @ Iowa St Cyclones 2011 NCAA Football Vegas Odds, Free Picks, and Expert Predictions on ESPN2 11/18/11: The second-ranked Oklahoma State Cowboys are in control of their own destiny. At 10-0, Mike Gundy’s bunch can punch its ticket to the BCS Championship Game by winning its final two games of the season. However, being in the cat bird’s seat comes with added pressure, and with the fifth-ranked Oklahoma Sooners looming in the season finale, Friday night’s road game against the Iowa State Cyclones (5-4) has trap game written all over it. That being said, Oklahoma State is a 27-point favorite against Iowa State.

The story for the Cowboys all season has been their high-powered offense. Oklahoma State is averaging a staggering 51.7 points per game, which ranks second in the country. The strength of the offense has been the passing attack, which also ranks second in the country at nearly 400 yards per game. For a Cyclones’ defense that has been surrendering nearly 30 points per game, it could be a very long night against the efficient scoring machine that is the Cowboys’ spread passing attack.

If Iowa State is going to have any kind of a chance to pull off an upset in this one, slowing down the tempo with its ground game is a must. The Cyclones do rank in the top 40 nationally at more than 180 yards per game on the ground, and sophomore running back James White has been a workhorse in his first year as starter. Freshman quarterback Jared Barnett has given the offense a versatile weapon as well, allowing the Cyclones to run the option at times. Oklahoma State hasn’t exactly been shutting its opponents down on offense, and Iowa State’s ground game could go on some extended scoring drives.

Of course, slowing down the Cowboys is easier said than done because of their balance on offense. Quarterback Brandon Weeden has been the centerpiece of the attack, throwing for more than 3,600 yards and tossing 31 touchdowns. However, running back Joseph Randle is seven yards short of 1,000 and has scored an incredible 21 touchdowns. Receiver Justin Blackmon is the other star of the show. He has 14 touchdowns and more than 1,100 yards this season.

The Cowboys just haven’t been beating opponents. They have been annihilating them, especially the weaker ones. Against Kansas and Texas Tech – the two weakest teams in the Big 12 – the Cowboys have come away with 42 and 60-point victories. In other words, a 27-point spread isn’t out of reach for Oklahoma State’s powerful offense.

If the matchup against Weeden and company wasn’t bad enough for the Cyclones defensively, it hurts their offensive philosophy as well. Iowa State wants to run the ball early and often, but there hasn’t been a defense this year that has held the Cowboys below 30 points. If the Cyclones are forced to take to the air in order to catch up, an already difficult deficit could get out of hand in a hurry.

At the end of the day, this is a matchup of one of the best offenses in college football against a mediocre team. While there is always a chance that the Cowboys could be looking past the Cyclones to the Sooners, they certainly seemed focused in their 66-6 win against the Red Raiders last weekend. Gundy’s team has been on a mission from the start of the year, and they love scoring points too much to take a night off. Weeden and company should put this game out of reach by halftime.

Prediction: Oklahoma State Cowboys (-27) Covers the Spread

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