Usually college football teams like to start their year with a blowout victory in the season opener to build momentum for a good first month, but each of the combatants in the week 2 Oklahoma State at Arizona State betting matchup hardly did that. The Cowboys managed just 13 points in the first three quarters before finally pulling away from Central Arkansas 27-13, but as -26.5 favorites.
Arizona State wasn’t exactly impressive last week either, winning at home against Southern Utah just 24-21 as -34.5 favorites. Neither OSU or ASU is riding high coming into Saturday night’s meeting (10:30 PM ET, FS1) but oddsmakers have made Oklahoma State the -2.5 road favorite here with over 70% of the betting public liking the Cowboys for a nice bounce back.
Why Oklahoma State Has Value at -2.5
Just the fact that OSU is favored on the road in the week 2 Oklahoma State at Arizona State betting matchup means that oddsmakers have respect for the Cowboys. Mike Gundy’s squad may have had a harder time than they expected with Central Arkansas, but just picking up a victory was huge for a team that lost five of their last six in 2022.
Speaking of Gundy, many people say when you have three QBs you actually have none and OSU ended up playing three signal callers last Saturday. It may be the coaches son Gunnar Gundy that proved the most legitimate though, coming in to go 7/9 for 106 yards.
Alan Bowman also attempted 24 passes for the Cowboys in the season opener and Garret Rangel had the Cowboys only TD pass so it’s definitely hard for ASU to game plan when you don’t know who is going to be under center on any given drive. OSU threw for over 300 yards as a team and also added 149 yards rushing in week 1.
Why Arizona State Has Value at +2.5
Who knows what Gundy plans to do at the QB position on Saturday night, but it’s still hard for a quarterback to get into rhythm when they’re not playing every drive – or looking over their shoulder waiting for the hook. OSU officially got a two TD win in their opener, but that game was just 13-7 going into the 4th so the Cowboys didn’t exactly impress.
Even though Arizona State also had their share of issues last week, at least they know who their QB is as Jaden Rashada threw for 236 yards and 2 TDs. That was the college debut for Rashada as well as the first game at the school for new head coach Kenny Dillingham, so some early growing pains aren’t a complete surprise.
One thing ASU fans have to like is that Oklahoma State looked like they hadn’t done a lot to fix their defensive issues in the opener. OSU had the third worst yardage defense in the Big 12 last year and allowed 268 pass yards and another 120+ on the ground to Central Arkansas – a lot for an FCS team.
Free Week 2 Oklahoma State at Arizona State Betting Pick
This game has a play on the total written all over it. Sure both offenses struggled last week, but each should show marked improvement in game two as OSU finds a bit more QB stability (one would think) and ASU is more comfortable with Rashada and Dillingham having a game under their belt as QB and coach. When you consider the Cowboys defense could be a real liability the over is the pick.
Free Pick: Over 53.5
