Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas: Prediction, Preview, Picks and Odds
Week two of the college football season is here. Oklahoma State plays Arkansas and Heartland College Sports has your game prediction, preview and betting odds ahead of the match up.
GAME INFO
Saturday, September 7; 11:00 a.m. (CT); Boone Pickens Stadium; Stillwater, OK
TV: ABC
Records: No. 17 Oklahoma State, 1-0; Arkansas, 1-0.
Last Week: Oklahoma State def. South Dakota State, 44-20; Arkansas def. UAPB, 70-0.
Series History: Arkansas leads, 30-15-1.
Last Meeting: Arkansas 33, Oklahoma State 20 (1980).
Fun Fact: Not only is the rivalry lopsided, but so it the number of times each team has hosted. The game has been played in either Fayetteville or Little Rock 32 times, while it’s only been played in Stillwater nine times. While OSU last won this game in 1975, the Cowboys are 4-4-1 at home.
Oklahoma State vs. Arkansas Betting Lines and Odds
Opening Line: Oklahoma State (-7.5)
Over/Under: 60.5
KEY PLAYERS
Arkansas
QB Taylen Green
While long-time Razorbacks quarterback K.J. Jefferson is now in the Big 12 with UCF, Green is now working as the starter. He threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns, while rushing for another 88 yards and two scores against UAPB, an FCS school that was, frankly, overmatched. He became the third Arkansas quarterback since 1997 to pass for multiple touchdowns and rush for multiple scores in a game. That was Green’s debut, as he transferred in from Boise State to join the Razorbacks. He threw for nearly 4,000 yards in two years with the Broncos.
DL Landon Jackson
Let’s be honest — in a game in which the Razorbacks scored on each of their first 10 possessions and coverted every third down, there wasn’t much for the defense to do. But Jackson is the player to watch. The junior lineman is on the watch lists for the Nagurski, Bednarik and Lombardi awards, along with the Senior Bowl. He was selected All-SEC preseason by the coaches. They understand his impact. He had just one tackle against UAPB, but he registered 44 tackles and 6.5 sacks last season.
Oklahoma State
WR De’Zhaun Stribling
The Cowboys returned Rashod Owens and Brennan Presley from a year ago, two key pieces of Oklahoma State’s success. But it was Stribling, the Washington State transfer who redshirted last year for the Cowboys, who led OSU in receptions in the season opener, catching six passes for 83 yards. Both Owens and Presley scored a touchdown. Stribling caught just 14 passes in four games last year and missed the rest of the season due to injury. But in his two seasons at Washington State he caught nearly 100 passes for more than 1,000 yards and 10 touchdowns. He’s the perfect third receiver for this offense.
S Trey Rucker
The super-senior was a busy dude against South Dakota State and he was named Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week as a result. He finished the game with 15 total tackles and nine solo stops, both of which rank No. 1 among power conference players in a game this season. Both were also career highs. It’s not a surprise he would contribute at that level. Last season he started all 14 games and finished with 100 tackles to rank third on the team and 62 were solo stops. He knows his role and plays it perfectly.
KEY STORYLINES
Arkansas
Sam Pittman is a well-liked head coach at Arkansas. But he’s a long way removed from his 9-4 season in 2021 in which they finished the AP Top 25. He hasn’t built on it. Since then he’s gone 11-14 and won just four SEC games. That’s part of the reason Arkansas brought in Bobby Petrino as the new offensive coordinator. He left Arkansas in disgrace in 2012 as the aftermath of a motorcycle revealed that he was having an affair with a football employee. But, 12 years later, he may be key to helping Pittman get things turned around in Fayetteville — or pave the way for Petrino to get his old job back. It has all the making of a potential SEC soap opera. Because, at day’s end, winning is all that matters, right?
Oklahoma State
The Cowboys have been to the Big 12 Championship Game two of the last three years and have lost both times (Baylor in 2021 and Texas last year). Oklahoma State can knock on the door but they can’t break it down. That’s why this season is so important for OSU. The program has perhaps the most experienced two-deep roster in the conference. It has the reigning Doak Walker Award winner in running back Ollie Gordon II. It has a seventh-year college quarterback in Alan Bowman. The defense is as talented as it has ever been. It’s all there for the taking for the Cowboys. Can they finally break down the door, win the Big 12 and get to the College Football Playoff? It’s now or, perhaps, not for a while longer.
PREDICTION: Oklahoma State 34, Arkansas 27
It’s a fool’s errand to try and read too much into a win over an FCS team. Both Oklahoma State and Arkansas beat FCS opponents last week. At least the Cowboys challenged themselves a bit with the two-time defending national champions. UAPB won two games last year. The Cowboys have a .500 record at home against the Razorbacks all-time. They’ll be above .500 after this game.
