Big 12 football picks: Week five results
By Brian Spaen
Sep 28, 2013; Morgantown, WV, USA; West Virginia Mountaineers offensive linesman Pat Eger (76) and West Virginia Mountaineers cornerback Terrell Chestnut (16) celebrate after beating the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Milan Puskar Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports
I’ll throw my arms up in the air when it comes to Vegas odds — I simply can’t get a feel for them. Perhaps instead of looking at my final score predictions to pick the over/under, I’ll just go with my gut instinct.
At this point, we can try anything. But traditionally picks tend to get easier as the season goes on, and perhaps with a full slate of Big 12 play I can turn the ship just like West Virginia started doing on Saturday.
West Virginia 30, Oklahoma State 21
If the Cowboys had any aspirations for a national championship this season, it went up in smoke with a 42.6 passing completion percentage and three turnovers. Even when the Mountaineers were dealing with Clint Trickett’s arm injury during the game, he was still able to pull out a gutsy performance to try and turn around WVU’s season. The defense was respectable; it gave up over 400 yards of offense but held Okie State to just 6 of 20 third down conversions.
SU: L / ATS: L / OU: L
Oklahoma 35, Notre Dame 21
The Irish turned the ball over twice in their first three plays of the game, which resulted in two quick Sooners touchdowns before three minutes even expired. Oklahoma dominated the game offensively with 450 total yards and 25 first downs, 13 more than ND was able to get. Blake Bell cemented his starting position at quarterback and could very well be the conference’s best.
SU: W / ATS: W / OU: L
TCU 48, SMU 17
It was a slow start, but the Horned Frogs rattled of 31 points in the 4th quarter to eventually pull away. TCU put the ball on the ground a ton early, coughing it up five times but only losing it twice. It was SMU that actually committed five turnovers that made them lose control of a game they had well in hand throughout the first half.
SU: W / ATS: L / OU: L
- Iowa State 38, Tulsa 21 – SU: W / ATS: W / OU: W
Records
- Straight up: 26-8
- At the spread: 9-17
- Over/under: 12-14