Bedlam is one of the most fierce rivalries in all of college football. It's a shame that it will be momentarily paused and possibly shut down entirely once Oklahoma finalizes its move to the SEC next season. But Oklahoma and Oklahoma State football have a lot to play for now regardless of what happens in the future.
The Big 12 is currently wide open. Five teams are currently atop the conference with a 4-1 record: the Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State and Iowa State.
The Sooners are coming off a stunning upset at the hands of the Kansas Jayhawks in Lawrence. However, it shouldn't have been too shocking after Oklahoma squeaked out a 31-29 win over UCF a week prior.
Oklahoma State football, on the other hand, has been one of the hottest teams in all of college football. The began the season 2-2 with one of those losses coming at the hands of South Alabama. Since then, the Cowboys have gone 4-0 with wins against both Kansas teams, both of whom are currently ranked in the College Football Playoff top 25 rankings. This will be a great game. That's one prediction. Here are a couple of more bold predictions.
Ollie Gordon will run for at least 160 yards
Ollie Gordon might be the best player in college football that no one talks about. It's hard to fly under the radar when leading the country in rushing yards, but that seems to be the case with Gordon. Gordon was part of a committee to begin the season. In Oklahoma State's first three games of the season, Gordon handled only 19 carries. He ran for 109 yards on those carries, good for a 5.7 yards per carry clip.
Head coach Mike Gundy must have saw those carries too because after their loss to South Alabama, things changed in Oklahoma State's backfield. Gordon's carries nearly doubled. After seeing 19 carries in three games, he got 18 in Oklahoma State's next game against Iowa State and turned those 18 carries into 121 yards.
Gordon hasn't looked back since. In Oklahoma State's next four games, he's received 104 carries and has run for 857 yards and eight touchdowns. He's averaging 214.25 yards and two touchdowns per game. Read that again: he's averaging 214.25 yards and two touchdowns per game. That's ridiculous!
And that doesn't even begin to mention the work Gordon is putting in through the air. In that same four game stretch, he has 11 receptions for 142 yards and a touchdown. He is simply mowing through every defense he's gone up against. Cincinnati was the latest victim, who saw Gordon rumble for 271 yards and two touchdowns.
Oklahoma's defense will be a tougher test than Cincinnati, but not as tough as one would think. They are allowing 132.6 rushing yards per game. Last week, Kansas running backs Devin Neal and Daniel Hinshaw Jr. combined to run for 163 yards on 37 carries in Kansas' upset win over the Sooners. If Oklahoma State is going to win this game, they will have to rely upon Gordon to run over this defense. He definitely can. He just might too.
Oklahoma State wins the game
Vegas has the Sooners as six-point favorites in this game. They surely will be motivated to avenge last week's loss at the hands of the Jayhawks. Oklahoma needs to win this game to keep their College Football Playoff hopes alive too.
But Oklahoma State is hot. They're playing fantastic ball as of late, have one of, if not, the best running backs in all of college football, and are hosting what could be the last iteration of this rivalry for a very long time. This game seems ripe for an upset. Oklahoma State is good enough to pull it off too.
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