Early on in the 2017 season, it looked like the Missouri Tigers might miss their second straight bowl game this year. But, after starting the season at 1-5, the Tigers have now won six straight and arrive at the Foster Farms Bowl with lots of momentum.
The Texas Longhorns arrive at this bowl game at 6-6 and will be eager to put on a better showing after blowing a late lead against Texas Tech in the last game of the regular season. The Longhorns are making their first appearance in a bowl game since 2014.
Missouri is a slight favorite in this matchup as it looks to stay hot in the final game of the 2017 campaign. The Longhorns would love a win to finish above .500 on the year.
Watch this bowl game live on Wednesday, December 27, 2017, at 9 p.m. ET at at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Missouri Tigers -3
Texas Longhorns +3
Over/Under 60.5
Odds Analysis
Missouri is a slight favorite even though this neutral site game is much closer to Austin, being played in Houston at the home of the Texans. Not surprisingly, more than 64 percent of the action is on the Longhorns to cover this spread.
The scoring total is about middle of the road for a college football game. The betting public likes the “over” much better, as more than 80 percent of the money has headed that way.
Key Stat
Four. That’s how many turnovers Texas had against Texas Tech on November 24th. The late mistakes, which included two fumbles and two interceptions, allowed the Red Raiders to come back and beat the Longhorns, 27-23.
Texas must do a much better job at protecting the football to have chance against Missouri. The Longhorns have lost seven fumbles this season and freshman signal caller Sam Ehlinger has thrown seven interceptions this year, with three of those coming in the final two games of the season.
Rookie mistakes are to be expected whenever you have an underclassman running the offense, but he will need to make better decisions against the Tigers.
Player to Watch
Drew Lock — The Tigers quarterback leads college football in touchdown passes this season with 43. He will be the key to victory for Missouri in this one, especially considering the Longhorns’ secondary is pretty thin right now.
Lock has thrown for 3,695 yards and has 12 interceptions on the season. The junior leads an offense that is averaging 311.9 passing yards a game.
Lock also has the luxury of quite a few weapons around him. Senior receiver receiver J'Mon Moore and freshman tight end Albert Okwuegbunam are two standouts with the ability to be game-changers in this one.
Free ATS Pick
Texas might have the de facto home field, but Missouri is on a roll and looks like the better team. It is a fair question to ask how the Longhorns plan to slow down Lock and the Tigers’ aerial attack, which has been putting up points on everybody standing in its way over the past several outings.
The Tigers have turned the corner and shown impressive resolve after such a horrific start and seem likely to keep it going. Texas was once a premier juggernaut in college football, but it has fallen on hard times. The Longhorns barely made it to a bowl game but do not seem to have enough talent to keep up in this one.
Choose the Tigers to both win this game outright and also cover the spread. Texas would need a big advantage in turnover differential to have a shot at the upset, and it seems more likely the Longhorns giveaway the ball more than they wrest it from Missouri.
Take the “over” as the points will be scored early and often in this one.
College Football Odds: Missouri 37, Texas 30
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