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Baker Mayfield is living the dream. Mayfield eschewed the chance to leave early for the NFL last season, saying he wanted to come back for one more year in Norman. He is off to a fantastic start after blitzing Ohio State last week in a game that wasn’t even that close. If it wasn’t for the Oklahoma Sooners’ inability to finish off drives deep in Buckeyes territory in the first half, the score would have been a lot more lopsided as the Sooners grabbed revenge. In their final game before entering Big 12 play, the Sooners take on the Tulane Green Wave this week and are expected to paste them.
This matchup in Week 3 of the regular season will take place on Saturday, September 16, 2017,
at 6 p.m. ET at OU Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. This game will be broadcast on OKPV.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Tulane +34.5
Oklahoma -34.5
Over/Under 56.5
Odds Analysis
The Green Wave have not played that poorly this season. Although some, including myself, were calling for Grambling to knock them off at the start of the year, Tulane handled its FCS counterpart with ease in an easy cover. Last week, the Green Wave got a little bit of a backdoor cover against Navy and are now 2-0 ATS.
Oklahoma is sitting at 2-0 ATS too. It crushed UTEP in its opener and it would have two covers and two overs if it could have converted chances early on against Ohio State. The Sooners have been on a tear recently and are 6-0 ATS in their last six home games and 6-0 ATS over their last six overall.
Player to Watch
Baker Mayfield is a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender now. Mayfield lit up both the Miners and Buckeyes pass defenses and has the best numbers in college football right now through the air. He is completing over 83 percent of his passes and is averaging 13 yards per pass attempt. Those are insane numbers against FCS schools, let alone a mediocre FBS program and an elite one.
Perhaps most impressive is that Mayfield is doing this despite not having nearly the same talent he did around him last season. Samaje Perine, Joe Mixon, and Dede Westbrook are all in the NFL now, but Mayfield decided to give it a go for one more season. New head coach Lincoln Riley is certainly ecstatic that he made that decision.
Matchup to Watch
Willie Fritz is having more success with his offense the second time around in Tulane. The Green Wave have actually been able to move the ball a little bit as an option team and this team could challenge for a bowl by the end of the year. The running game has some of the better numbers in the American at this point, averaging over five yards per carry.
Most importantly, the quarterback play has been better. Tulane quarterbacks combined to complete just 42 percent of their passes last season and the poor completion percentage meant that the offense couldn’t do what Fritz wanted it to do on the ground. This season, Jonathan Banks and Johnathan Brantley have combined to complete 64.3 percent of their passes as this team looks much better.
Free ATS Pick
Oklahoma’s defense still has some question marks. UTEP isn’t anything special on offense and Ohio State weirdly tried to keep moving the ball through the air against this defense, even though it was having success on the ground.
That bodes well for Tulane here. The Green Wave are going to want to play ball control and won’t have any second thoughts about keeping the ball on the ground. Oklahoma has a quick strike offense, but Tulane’s defense will hold up just well enough for Tulane to stay within the number.
College Football Odds: Sooners 45, Green Wave 17
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