Iowa State Cyclones at Texas Longhorns Odds & Game Pick (2020)
Seemingly as soon as it started it’s coming to an end as college football enters its final stretch of games before bowl season hopefully gets underway largely as scheduled. With just one regular-season game remaining beyond this one, Iowa State can all but secure a spot in the Big 12 title game with a win here.
For the Longhorns, a win here puts themselves directly in the conversation, with the added benefit of two games left on the schedule beyond Friday.
Who will take one step closer to a spot in the coveted Big 12 Championship game at Jerry’s World come next month? Let’s take a closer look.
Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook.
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Details
- Opening Lines: Texas -2; O/U 59.5
- Current Line: Texas -.5
- O/U: 56.5
- Location: DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX
- Start Time: 12:00 pm ET
- Television: ABC
- Last Meeting: November 16, 2019 – Texas 21, Iowa State 23
Overview
For the #13 ranked Cyclones, junior quarterback Brock Purdy has been decent this season, throwing for 1,713 yards, 13 touchdowns, and six interceptions to this point, all largely middle of the pack nationally. Sophomore running back Breece Hall, however, has been decidedly better than decent.
Through their first eight games, Hall has rushed for 1,169 yards (#1 in the nation) to go along with 15 touchdowns on the ground and another one through the air. Purdy and Hall’s production has lead the Cyclones to an average of 34.4 points per game, good for third in the BIG 12.
While the Cyclones deal with the short week, the home Longhorns will be playing Friday for the first time since November 7th following a COVID-postponement and a scheduled bye. When the final whistle blows Friday afternoon, it will be the last for senior quarterback Sam Ehlinger who now owns a bevy of records at Texas.
Through his first seven games this season, Ehlinger has a completion percentage of just 58.8% but has still thrown for 1,834 yards and a touchdown to interception ratio of just 22:5. With no running game to speak of, expect to see plenty more of the gunslinger as the season winds down.
The defensive side of the ball, however, has yet again been a major cause of headache for Longhorns fans. To this point, they’re allowing an average of 29.7 points per game including 283.1 yards through the air per contest.
- Iowa State is 0-4 ATS in their last four vs. Texas
- The Under is 6-1 in the last seven Iowa State-Texas meetings
- The Under is 5-0 in the last five Iowa State games played on Friday
Bottom Line
When fifth-year Cyclone’s head coach Matt Campbell takes his boys to Austin on Friday, he’ll be trying to pull off the first win for the program at Texas in 10 years. To be fair, though, there were some Longhorns teams over that decade that were certainly a cut or three above the team we’ll see on Friday.
In addition to that, it’s now been almost three weeks to the day since they last saw the field and a typically packed house for Senior day will largely be reduced due to a surge in COVID cases. While the layoff and some uncertainty around injuries have presumably tipped this total lower through the week, I think it’s dipped a little too low.
In this one, I see head coach Tom Herman’s close relationship with Ehlinger allowing him to let loose in what could very well turn into a shootout before it’s all said and done.
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TJ Perun is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from TJ, check out his archive and follow him @JohnnyCovers.