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No. 12 Utah (3-0) at No. 14 Oklahoma State (3-0)
Date: Saturday, September 21
Time: 4 p.m. ET
TV: FOX
It’s the AARP matchup of the week!
With Utah’s 25-year-old Cam Rising and Oklahoma State’s 24-year-old Alan Bowman, this game features quarterbacks with a combined age of 49 years, which is older than the combined QB ages for Sunday’s Bears-Colts matchup with 22-year-olds Caleb Williams and Anthony Richardson.
So it’s senior citizen vs. senior citizen Saturday in Stillwater, and with all of that experience at the most important position, I expect lots of points to be scored.
The pick — OVER 54.5 total points (-110, FanDuel)
The Utes have been without Rising since he hurt his throwing hand two weeks ago in a 23-12 win over Baylor, but he’s been given the green light to return for a huge Big 12 matchup. And when Rising has played, he’s been great.
Against Baylor, Rising only played one half but threw two touchdowns as Utah scored all of its points before halftime. Under his command, the Utes offense can move the ball fairly effortlessly. More importantly, he’s been well-protected.
Rising has been sacked once in his 1 1/2 games this year. As a team, Utah gives up a sack on just 5% of dropbacks and averages only 1.5 sacks allowed per game. Against the Cowboys, Rising will have time to throw.
Oklahoma State’s defense has had its lapses this season. It gave up 648 yards in a 39-31 victory over Arkansas and even allowed 352 yards to Tulsa in last week’s 45-10 rout. The point is, I’m not sure I fully trust OK State to stop one of the nation’s best QBs on a consistent basis.
However, the Cowboys have some lethal weapons of their own on offense.
Led by Bowman (967 yards passing, eight TDs, two interceptions), Oklahoma State averages 42.7 points per game, good for 18th in the nation. Its offense just moves, and it still hasn’t unlocked the full capability of star running back Ollie Gordon (216 yards rushing, four TDs). With Utah allowing 4.1 yards per carry in its last game, Gordon might have his breakout game.
With so much experience and talent on both offenses, I think the move here is to forget about picking a winner. Sit back in your comfiest chair with your coldest beer on Saturday afternoon and watch the points roll in.
Season record: 6-6, -0.30 units