South Dakota State vs Oklahoma State Prediction College Football Picks 8/31/24

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits and the Oklahoma State Cowboys meet in week 1 college football action from Boone Pickens Stadium on Saturday afternoon. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a South Dakota State vs. Oklahoma State prediction.

South Dakota State Team Preview

The South Dakota State Jackrabbits come into 2024 as the two-time defending FCS champions, finishing 2023 with a 15-0 record including a 23-3 win over Montana to hoist the trophy. Mark Gronowski is a big return for South Dakota State, who lost a lot of production to the NFL, with Gronowski throwing for 3,058 yards, 29 TDs and 5 INTs on 68% passing while also rushing for 402 yards and 8 scores. Amar Johnson will likely be the RB1 for South Dakota State, averaging 6.3 yards per carry with 4 TDs and 801 rushing yards last year while Angel Johnson had 381 yards rushing and 5 touchdowns on just 43 carries. Griffin Wilde will probably headman the Jackrabbits’ receivers this year, after logging 399 yards on 20 grabs with 6 TDs as a true freshman last year.

On defense, 8 of the top 13 tackles are back from a defense that allowed just 9.3 PPG. Adam Bock is back with a hopefully clean bill of health while a lot of depth pieces also return at linebacker for South Dakota State. Zac Wilson and Blake Peterson will be tasked with stepping up for the South Dakota State defensive line, while Tucker Large, Cale Reeder, Colby Huerter and Matthew Durrance will be names frequently heard in the Jackrabbit secondary.

Why the South Dakota State Jackrabbits will win

• The team ranked 17th in the AP Poll has lost four of its last five games.
• The underdog has won seven of Oklahoma State’s last 10 games at Boone Pickens Stadium.
• The underdog has covered the spread in 10 of Oklahoma State’s last 11 games at Boone Pickens Stadium.
• Oklahoma State has failed to cover the spread in each of its last four season openers.

Oklahoma State Team Preview

The Oklahoma State Cowboys come into the 2024 season off of another successful season in 2023 where OK State finished with a 10-4 overall record, which included a 7-2 mark in Big 12 conference play. The Cowboys endured a 49-21 loss to Texas in the Big 12 title game but knocked off Texas A&M in the Texas Bowl by a final score of 31-23. Alan Bowman comes in for another year of college football, his 7th season after throwing for 3,460 yards, 15 touchdowns and 14 picks for the Cowboys last season. Ollie Gordon II is back as one of, if not the best running back in the country, after rushing for 1,732 yards and 21 touchdowns.

However, off-field issues have made the news with Gordon and it’s going to be interesting to see how those come into play in 2024. The Cowboys have a fantastic receiving corps as well, with Brennan Presley logging 101 receptions last year to lead Oklahoma State while Rashod Owens had 63 receptions in 2nd.

On defense, the linebacking group is the strength of the Cowboys’ unit, with Nick Martin back after logging 140 total tackles, 6 sacks and 16 TFLs and Collin Oliver logging 73 tackles, 6 sacks and 15.5 TFLs of his own. Kendal Daniels will lead the Cowboys in the secondary after finishing 2nd with 105 tackles and at the other safety spot, Trey Rucker had 100 tackles of his own. Cam Smith and Korie Black also make up a formidable tandem at corner for the Cowboys.

Why the Oklahoma State Cowboys will win

• Oklahoma State has won each of its last nine season openers.
• Oklahoma State has covered the spread in four of its last five games at Boone Pickens Stadium.

South Dakota State vs. Oklahoma State Prediction

I’m leaning towards the Jackrabbits here. I think South Dakota State is going to be way up for this one and while the Cowboys won’t take them lightly, this South Dakota State team really is no joke. They treat these FBS games with the utmost importance and plenty of teams at the FBS level have fallen to the Jackrabbits who also have not lost since 2022. I think the Jackrabbits are live here. Give me Oklahoma State.