The oddsmakers in Las Vegas and elsewhere have placed an over-under total of 66 points on Wednesday’s Alamo Bowl between Arizona and Oklahoma State.

For those oblivious to sports gambling, which is a good thing, that means they believe the high-powered offenses of Arizona and Oklahoma State will combine for 66 points. How will those points factor into the final score: Oklahoma State 36, Arizona 30? Arizona 34, Oklahoma State 32?

The Wildcats lost 33-0 last year against Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl. What are the chances Oklahoma State doubles that with a 66-0 victory in San Antonio? About the same chance UA coach Mike Stoops remains calm and silent on the sideline an entire game?

Depending on what sportsbook you research, the Cowboys, leaders of the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision in total offense (537.6 yards per game), are favored by 4.5 to 6 points. The Wildcats must contend with the No. 3 scoring team in the nation (44.9 points per game).

More reason to believe this will be a high-scoring affair:

• Arizona quarterback Nick Foles and receiver Juron Criner vs. Oklahoma State counterparts Brandon Weeden and receiver Justin Blackmon is worth the admission alone.
• Blackmon, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior, has hauled in 102 passes for 1,655 yards while gaining unanimous All-America honors from The Associated Press. He’s scored 20 touchdowns, including an FBS-high 18 on receptions.
• Weeden has completed 67.4 percent of his 470 passes for 4,307 yards and 32 touchdowns. The 6-4, 224-pound junior has thrown only 13 interceptions.
• The 6-5, 245-pound Foles has completed 67.6 percent of his passes for 2,911 yards and 19 touchdowns, with seven interceptions. His reliable go-to guy Criner has 73 catches for 1,186 yards and 10 touchdowns.
• The total has gone over in five of Arizona’s last 6 games. The total has also gone over in eight of Oklahoma State’s 12 games.

Not much talk is placed on Oklahoma State’s running game even though Kendall Hunter has rushed for 1,516 yards and 16 touchdowns. The Wildcats can not afford to give up chunks of yardage on the ground. When the UA’s defense limits the ground game good things happen.

“They like to throw the ball around,” UA senior defensive end Brooks Reed said Monday at a press conference. “Honestly as a defensive lineman, as a pass-rushing defensive end, that’s always a good thing. That’s what I like to do.”

But Stanford was not known for its ground game and the Cardinal, behind likely No. 1 NFL draft choice Andrew Luck, scorched the Wildcats 42-17 on Nov. 6.

Oklahoma State’s defense is also susceptible to allowing points. The Cowboys lost at home to Oklahoma in the regular season finale 47-41. The 47 points were more than they allowed to Kansas State, Texas and Kansas combined (44 points) in three previous road games.

Cause for concern: Oklahoma State, which should have a partisan crowd, has gone over the total in all of its seven home games this season.

The over-under in the Oklahoma State-Oklahoma game was 68 points. The teams topped that by 20 points. Expect the same outcome Wednesday night.

How about a 45-43 game? Insert your winner here. If it is a game like that, people will remember the Alamo … Bowl.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 28th, 2010 at 3:38 am and is filed under Sports. Tags for this post: Brooks Reed, Juron Criner, Mike Stoops. Nick Foles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.