Oregon State Beavers at TCU Horned Frogs Point Spread Picks

Opening Line: TCU -13.5 / Oregon State +13.5 Over/Under: 50.5

Time: 7:45 PM EST Saturday September 4, 2010 on ESPN/ESPN3

In a non-conference match up being held at a neutral site the 6th ranked TCU Horned Frogs take on the 24th ranked Oregon State Beavers. I say neutral site, as the game is being held in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, but since the game is in the Lone Star State the Horned Frogs will have some home field advantage.

Last season TCU was 8-3 ATS and Oregon State was 7-4 ATS.

Much like Boise State TCU is not a team from a big conference and to make the BCS title game and probably any BCS bowl game the Horned Frogs will have to win this game and then all their games in the Mountain West Conference. The Beavers are the only team that the Horned Frogs play this season that are ranked in the pre-season top 25.

Oregon State has a tall task in this game against a TCU team that averaged 456.7 yards and 38.3 points per game last season. The Beavers play a killer pre-Pac 10 schedule, as after this game they face the pre-season 3rd ranked team in Boise State in 2 weeks and then 2 teams in conference play that are ranked in the pre-season top 25.

TCU and their dynamic offense is led by QB Andy Dalton, who passed for 2,756 yards with 23 TD and 8 INT last season. His main targets are WR's Jeremy Kerley (44 rec 532 yards 2 TD last season) and Jimmy Young (33 rec 517 yards 3 TD). The Beavers' secondary is solid and has some big and physical players, but they gave up 23 TD passes last season, which was the most in the Pac 10.

The Horned Frogs only lost 2 starters on offense, but one is a big one in leading rusher RB Joseph Turner. RB Ed Wesley, who rushed for 638 yards and 4 TD and caught 8 passes for 170 yards and 3 TD, takes over as the main back. Run defense is the strength of the Beavers' D and Wesley will have to pick up some rushing yards to take some pressure off Dalton.

TCU has a great offensive line with 4 starters back and last season they were a unit that only gave up 12 sacks all season.

OSU has a new starting QB in Ryan Katz, who threw for 232 yards and 1 TD last season. He has a few WR targets who are fast and are great playmakers led by James Rodgers (91 rec 1,034 yards 9 TD last season). The TCU pass rush lost studs DE Jerry Hughes and LB Daryl Washington and getting to the QB is not their strength, but they have a good secondary.

The main weapon for the Beavers is RB Jacquizz Rodgers, who is an early season Heisman candidate. Last season he rushed for 1,440 yards with 21 TD and caught 78 passes for 522 yards and 1 TD. He will have to play well for OSU to have any shot at an upset.

The offensive line of the Beavers is a question mark and they have to step up and open up holes for Rodgers and protect their inexperienced QB.

Both teams are legitimate BCS bowl contenders and ranked in the top 25 and TCU can get some much-needed respect by beating a ranked school from a big conference in Oregon State.

Game Prediction

Take the Horned Frogs