Game Info
Good Guys: Texas Tech Red Raiders (5-3, 3-2)
Bad Guys: Oklahoma Sooners (7-1, 4-1)
When to Watch: Saturday, November 3rd @ 7:00 p.m.
Where to Watch: Jones AT&T Stadium | Lubbock, Texas
How to Watch: ABC | WatchESPN
How to Listen: 97.3 FM | Affiliates | TuneIn App
The Line: Oklahoma -11.5 (OddsShark)
Weather:
Five Questions
1. How good is Kyler Murray?
Oh, he’s redonkulous. Seriously elite. Murray (5-10/195) is average 290 yards passing, 12.7 yards per attempt (that’s stupid!), and over 6.5 yards a carry and 60 yards rushing a game. He’s thrown 28 touchdowns, just 3 interceptions and he’s just been off the charts in terms of quarterback rating, 227.34, which is just slightly behind Tua Tagovailoa, who is having an insane year too at 238.85. The next closes quarterback is Will Grier who has a quarterback rating of 188.74, so you can see that Tagovailoa and Murray are the two absolute elite quarterbacks this year.
2. Yeah, but Murray has had a ton of help so lets’ not praise him too much?
Nah, Murray’s been incredible and he’s had running backs go down with injuries and I know no one is feeling sorry for Oklahoma, but last week the rushed for 332 yards on 39 carries for 8.3 yards per run, led by Kennedy Brooks (5-11/205) who had 5 for 94 and 2 touchdowns, while T.J. Pledger (5-9/200) was the “workhorse” and had 13 for 91 and Trey Serman (6-0/224) had 8 for 58. Oh, and Murray still passed for 352. If you haven’t watched CeeDee Lamb (6-2/189), he’s a game-breaker, 4 catches for 160 yards last week. That’s 40 yards a catch and that’s just stupid. And yes, I get that Kansas State may not be the K-State we’ve known to loathe, but Lamb is special and Marquise Brown (5-10/168) has really been the leading receiver for most of the year with 40 catches for 738 yards and 7 touchdowns while Lamb has had 34 for 674 and 9 touchdowns.
3. If Ruffin McNeill a miracle worker?
It is quite possible. I’ve always liked Ruffin and have always cheered for him when he was at East Carolina and wished him well. In any event, in his second game as defensive coordinator I’d imagine that McNeill simplified things, went to a 4-man front, and tried to play solid defense. That’s all that the Sooners really need to do considering how good their offense is. Against TCU, who is obviously having issues on the offensive side of the ball (88th in offensive S&P+), they only allowed 163 passing yards and 112 rushing yards. Against another possibly inept offensive team, Kansas State (85th in offensive S&P+), the Sooners allowed 108 passing yards and 137 rushing yards. Are these the two best offenses in the Big 12? No, but the defense did what they were supposed to do, so credit where credit is due.
4. Who are the standouts on defense?
Linebackers Curtis Bolton (6-0/218) and Kenneth Murray (6-2/238) (no relation to Kyler) are very good, the two leaders of the defense, Murray has 92 tackles and 8.5 tackles for a loss while Bolton has 88 tackles and also 8.5 tackles for a loss. For comparison purposes, Dakota Allen, who has been all over the field, has 68 tackles and 6.5 tackles for a loss, so you can see how important both Bolton and Murray are to the Sooners. Murray also leads the team with 4 sacks and Bolton is right behind him with 3.5.
5. We doing this all-time series record thing again?
Heck yes, you try thinking of 5 questions each week. Via Winsipedia, the Sooners hold a 19-6 series record over Texas Tech. The last time the Red Raiders won was that 41-38 win in Norman in 2011 and Texas Tech really went back and forth with Oklahoma, winning in 2007, then of course losing badly in Norman in 2008, but then whipping the Sooners in 2009 in Lubbock the next year, and then losing in 2010 in Norman. So yes, Texas Tech played in Norman in back-to-back years, 2010 and 2011. Texas Tech has lost 6 straight to the Sooners.