This Saturday at 3:30pm ET, Boone Pickens Stadium will be rocking as the number sixteen TCU Horned Frogs come to Stillwater. TCU will be trying to suffocate the number six team in the land and the third ranked Oklahoma State Offense. Both teams come into the contest at 3-0.
Stars of the Game:
Oklahoma State has gotten off to an extremely fast start, posting un-Godly numbers on offense. They are currently ranked number three overall in the FBS with 1821 total yards of offense and 18 offensive touchdowns.
Senior QB, Mason Rudolph, is a prolific distributor of the ball in the Oklahoma State offense, with 1135 passing yards and 11 touchdowns in three games. He has a ridiculous QB rating of 210 on the season and has only made one errant throw for an interception this year. In fact, it was his first interception in 216 passing attempts (last year included), a school record for Oklahoma State. He threw for a career high 497 yards and 5 touchdowns against a decent Pittsburgh team last week. Can he continue to air out the ball against a higher caliber team though?
Rudolph’s job will be made much easier this weekend by his big-play receiver, James Washington. This season as a senior, Washington has an astonishing 28.2 yards per catch on 13 receptions for the Oklahoma State Offense. He has already hit pay-dirt three times this season. James’ performance last week lifted him past current Dallas Cowboys receiver, Dez Bryant, on the all-time OK State receiving yards list. Washington is also an extremely reachable 398 yards from topping former OK State standout, Justin Blackmon. James has strong hands that all him to bring down the jump ball and he has the speed to beat you on the deep routes.
Another star in the making appeared last week for the Oklahoma State Offense against Pitt. Junior WR, Jalen McCleskey, put up 162 yards on seven catches, and hauled in three touchdowns. To be fair, he did put up 812 yards last season as well, but in one game he was able to bring in almost half of his season total of seven TDs last year. He will be positioned for a break out season if he can find the end zone again this week.
TCU, on the other hand, pride themselves with winning on the other side of the ball. Their defense has allowed a combined total of 43 points in their first three games. 36 of those points were scored against a high-powered offense in SMU, that had put up over 50 points per game in their first two outings. TCU’s resume also boasts only giving up 7 points to SEC West Arkansas in Fayetteville in week 2.
Ranthony Texada will be tasked with shutting down the big chunk passing game of Oklahoma State. His numbers aren’t anything that will jump off of a stat sheet, but he is a shutdown corner. Last week, he held Courtland Sutton to only one catch for zero yards. That’s no easy feat against a guy who had 4 touchdown catches the week prior. Look for an extremely good matchup when Texada lines up against Washington or McCleskey.
TCU is no slouch at the QB position either. Kenny Hill comes into this week completing 75 percent of his passes. Hill has thrown a respectful eight touchdowns to only two interceptions himself this season. He isn’t the downfield passer that Rudolph is with only 8 yards per pass to Rudolph’s 12.1 yards per play, but he is extremely accurate. Look for Hill to try to get the ball out of his hands quickly. If he can do so, he should prove very effective in this one.
Predictions:
Bovada has this one set at an O/U of 72. Clearly, they don’t think that TCU can shut down the Cowboys offense. I agree with Bovada 100 percent. That means that Kenny Hill and the TCU offense will have to keep up in a shootout. Oklahoma State just has too many weapons at the skill positions. I see this being the most entertaining game of the weekend, if you like offenses putting up big numbers. TCU has only been able to beat the Cowboys once since 2012 and I don’t think they can get it done in Stillwater this weekend either. I think Mason Rudolph and the high-powered Oklahoma State Offense pull away late with a 44-28 victory.
