STAFF PICKS: West Virginia vs. Oklahoma

Every week, the Smoking Musket staff will test out our sure to be less-than-stellar gambling skills, as we make picks in four categories: straight-up, against the spread, over/under, and a special prop bet to be determined each week. We will each start with $500 in Musket Money™, and each bet will be worth $100.

Note: I am still very bad at betting.

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In addition to the degenerate gambling, we’ll be giving our straight up, detailed predictions as to how we think that week’s game will go. So, without further ado...

Nick Shoemaker

I think Oklahoma will get an early lead and be able to coast for the rest of the game. I think that the Sooners will play primarily second string guys in the fourth quarter, allowing West Virginia to make it look a little more respectable, but the Mountaineers’ October losing streak will continue.

Oklahoma 45 - West Virginia 24

Jordan Pinto

Not in the face, please.

Oklahoma 49 - West Virginia 17

Matt Kirchner

B L O O D

Oklahoma 56 - West Virginia 10

BartimusPrime

Weirdly, I feel very confident WVU will cover this large spread. Of all the things I feel most positive about regarding this Mountaineer football team is the defense. Through three Big 12 games, the defense has done a decent job keeping opponents’ scoring down (fewer than 35 points per game) and I really think our defense can hold OU below 55 points this weekend. That means all WVU’s offense has to do is score more than 21 points to cover.

The weird key for this game is special teams. If WVU can continue to cover punts and minimize punt returns yards, then the Mountaineers will be able to keep OU’s scoring down. On top of that, WVU will need Sam James to break one or two decent kickoff returns to set up shorter fields for WVU’s offense.

If WVU can win the kick/punt return yards difference, then they’ll cover the spread.

Oklahoma 47 - West Virginia 20

John Radcliff

I had little hope last week. Probably less this week. My one real tangible hope is that we try to shorten the game and run as much clock as possible. Mostly because I like our defense and don’t want to see them spend 70% of the game on the field. I’m afraid if they do, they won’t recover in time for the next game.

Oklahoma 55 - West Virginia 10

statsboyandi

Maybe WVU can stahahaha I’m joking. This is going to be ugly.

Oklahoma 52 - West Virginia 16

Robert Hurst

This one’s gonna get ugly. OU is a legit playoff contender and WVU wasn’t good before injury’s and attrition started to take their toll. If you are able, practice some self care tomorrow and turn it off early.

Oklahoma 56 - West Virginia 7

Michael Miller

Clubber Lang was actually talking about this game in Rocky 3. This is going to be a painful watch. We’re just not on the level to compete with Oklahoma this year. Escape Norman without any serious injuries, and I’ll consider it a win.

Oklahoma 51 - West Virginia 17

WVUNite

I don’t want to sugarcoat this, I think this is a beatdown. This may be the worse than the 2017 when the score was 45-10 at halftime. I went with the under only because I think OU could honestly put their third team out in the 2nd half and we still won’t score. Brown says Kendall will start, but I think we will see 2, maybe 3 quarterbacks this game.

Oklahoma 49 - West Virginia 10