Bettors should pounce on WVU +7.5 vs. Oklahoma St.

Published on Wednesday, 10/25/17, at 12:28 p.m. Eastern.

I made Oklahoma St. a 2.5-point favorite for Saturday’s trip to Morgantown. From a situational standpoint, everything favors West Virginia in this game.

Not only is Mike Gundy’s team playing on the road for a second straight week, but it had to go to overtime to nip Texas in Austin. Also, Oklahoma St.’s biggest game annually (Bedlam vs. Oklahoma) is on deck next week, placing the Cowboys in a look-ahead spot.

Oklahoma St. is also dealing with injuries along its offensive line, and that’s why its usually explosive offense wasn’t functioning at its usual rate/pace against the Longhorns. Senior center Brad Lundblade and OT Teven Jenkins were both listed as ‘questionable’ on Monday (when I posted this play because I won’t be surprised if this number eventually gets south of seven) and remained question marks as of Wednesday (when the line was still  WVU +7.5 at most spots).

Another key injury for OSU is junior starting DB Kenneth Edison-McGruder, who missed the Texas game with an ankle injury and is ‘questionable’ at WVU. Edison-McGruder also missed wins at South Alabama and at Pittsburgh in September but in the four games he has played, he’s produced 17 tackles (14 solo), one sack, one tackle for a loss, two passes broken up and one fumble return for an 82-yard TD. And finally, we should note that OSU also lost starting offensive guard Larry Williams to a season-ending injury in late September, so the o-line depth is being seriously tested.

Oklahoma St. is 1-4-2 against the spread in its last seven games as a road favorite vs. Big 12 foes, including a pair of non-covers this year at Texas Tech and at Texas.

Meanwhile, West Virginia is 3-0 both straight up and ATS in three home games this year, winning by margins of 36, 43 and 11 points. WVU has won outright in 15 of its last 17 home games going back to the start of the 2015 campaign.

The Mountaineers are ranked fourth in the nation in total offense, fourth in passing yards and fourth in scoring (43.3 PPG). Will Grier is playing sensational football, throwing for 2,467 yards with a 26/5 TD-INT ratio. He has three elite WRs, including David Sills, who leads the country in TD catches with 15. RB Justin Crawford provides balance with 639 rushing yards, seven rushing TDs and a 6.1 YPC average.

This is a toss-up game in terms of the outright winner. WVU getting more than seven is a no-brainer and I also suggest a super-small amount on a money-line play that should net a return in the +230 neighborhood (risk $100 to win $230). WVU let us down this past Saturday in Chafe-City fashion when it somehow allowed a 38-13 lead late in the third quarter to get away at Baylor. The Mountaineers still prevailed, 38-36, but not until the Bears scored 23 unanswered points with most of them coming late in the final stanza. This prevented us from going 5-1 on Saturday and forced us to settle for a 4-2 record. WVU will make it up to us vs. OSU, though.

For the rest of my plays for this week (five loaded now, 2-3 more are likely to follow between now and late Friday), check them out here. Here’s the type of profit I’ve been producing for my clients so far this season, so don’t be scared to invest in my season package!

Feel free to shoot any sports-gambling questions/comments/whatever my way at briane.edwards11@gmail.com. Also, this week’s Games Galore podcast is being recorded Thursday and will be available here on BrianEdwardsSports.com tomorrow night. And finally, you can follow me on Twitter @vegasbedwards. Best of luck to us on this WVU play!