by Michael Greenway
The No. 7 Oklahoma State Cowboys take on No. 8 Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas Saturday. Oklahoma State is coming off a 59-33 victory in Tulsa while Texas A&M is coming off a 37-7 victory over Idaho. This will be Texas A&M’s first real test of the season. The Cowboys on the other hand have already proven themselves against the Arizona Wildcats, winning 37-14 earlier in the season. The winner of this game stays alive in the Big 12 race and the loser will likely be eliminated because both teams still have to play chart-topping Oklahoma.
Oklahoma State’s quarterback-receiver combo in Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon is a strength. Blackmon already has 27 receptions, 329 yards, and three touchdowns this season. Weeden has completed 72 percent of his passes for 1,154 yards and eight touchdowns.
The Cowboys’ defense has looked suspect at times during their three wins, and last Saturday they gave up 33 points to Tulsa’s backup quarterback. The defense must improve this week if Oklahoma State is going to win.
Texas A&M quarterback Ryan Tannehill has played very efficiently this season. In both games combined Tannehill has completed 47 of 65 passes totaling 583 yards and four touchdowns, while only turning the ball over once. The Aggies will need a similar performance this weekend against the Cowboys.
The defense for Texas A&M has been magnificent this season. In its opener against SMU the defense held the high powered Mustang offense to just 14 points and shut them out in the second half. If the Texas A&M defense can slow down the Cowboys’ offense, the Aggies will come away with this one.
My Call: Oklahoma State 35, Texas A&M 31. This will be one of those Wild West shootouts, where both teams will score and score often. But in the end Weeden and Blackmon will prove to be too much for the Aggie defense.