After Dramatic Line Movement, Oklahoma Now the Betting Favorite to Beat Missouri

Taking at look at the Tigers' quarterback situation with Brady Cook and Drew Pyne, the Sooners have gone from a 4-point underdog to a 3-point favorite.

Oklahoma head football coach Brent Venables. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NORMAN — It’s long been assumed that Oklahoma will be an underdog in each of its last three games.

That, apparently, isn’t happening.

OU opened the week as a 4-point underdog for Saturday’s game at Missouri, but that has changed drastically, according to several Las Vegas oddsmakers.

As of 2:45 p.m. Tuesday, OU was a 1-point underdog. By 4 p.m., the Sooners were a 3-point favorite by DraftKings, Bally, and other sports books, and were favored by 2 1/2 by MGM, Fan Duel and others.

The reason for such a drastic line movement is easy to identify: Missouri quarterback Brady Cook’s hand injury.

The Sooners no doubt have shown moderate improvements over their last two games, leading Ole Miss at halftime in Oxford and exploding all over FCS opponent Maine on Saturday.

Wow, that really escalated quickly. Look at who's favored in #Sooners v. #Mizzou game now, versus just about an hour ago. https://t.co/yVkvcdys7H pic.twitter.com/Ig28I05dCS

— John E. Hoover 🌮 (@johnehoover) November 5, 2024

But OU is 5-4 overall and 1-4 in SEC play. Missouri is 6-2 and 2-2. The Sooners have struggled offensively all season but are coming off a 59-14 home victory over the Black Bears, while the Tigers were idle. Mizzou’s last game was a 34-0 loss at Alabama, in which Cook went out and was replaced by senior transfer Drew Pyne.

Pyne completed just 6-of-12 passes for 52 yards and was intercepted three times by the Crimson Tide defense.

Missouri coach Eli Drinkwitz said Tuesday at his weekly press conference he would let any injury news come out on Wednesday night’s SEC Player Availability Report. But if Cook can’t go, Drinkwitz said, it’ll be Pyne again.

“Our team’s behind him if that’s what it needs to be,” Drinkwitz said. “But that’s not been decided yet.”

Pyne began his career in 2020 at Notre Dame. He started for the Irish in 2022, then transferred to Arizona State last year. He’s played in five games so far for the Tigers this season, completing 35-of-55 passes for 248 yards with no TDs and last week’s three picks.

“Hopefully it was a learning opportunity,” Drinkwitz said. “We put him in some bad situations. And we’ve gotta protect better and establish the run better. We can’t turn the ball over.”

Drinkwitz said Pyne has had the right attitude since returning to Columbia from Tuscaloosa.

“That’s all of us — we can either choose be victims or be relentless in our pursuit of being a better football team,” Drinkwitz said. “Drew’s been relentless, being dedicated to his goals, when you face setbacks, finding ways to learn and grow from ‘em.”

Cook, a senior from St. Louis who also began his career in 2020, has emerged as a big-time playmaker for the Tigers. He threw for 2,738 yards and 14 touchdowns in 2022 and 3,317 yards and 21 TDs in 2023. So far this year he was completing 63.1 percent of his passes for 1,545 yards with seven touchdowns and one pick. Cook is fourth in school history with 8,053 yards.

“Big fan of his leadership and his toughness,” OU coach Brent Venables said Tuesday. “The players, their program, they feed off of him. He's got great juice and just he's fearless.”

Venables applauded Cook’s efforts in a wild comeback victory over Auburn, when he went down on the opening drive with a leg injury, left the game, went across the street to the hospital, got treatment — and then returned late in the third quarter with his team trailing 17-6, threw a 78-yard pass and led the Tigers to a dramatic win. The winner came at the end of a 17-play, 95-yard drive.

“You can see the guts and the toughness,” Venables said. “… Comes back in the game … with a Superman cape on and takes them third-and-13, fourth-and-5, long drive, and they go down and score to come from behind and win that game. Incredible competitor. 

“I know he's someone the coaching staff leans heavily on. He can do it all. He's a great runner. They're the best team in college football in the red zone scoring touchdowns, and a lot of it was because of him.”

Cook owns the SEC record with 365 consecutive pass attempts without an interception. He’s just the fifth player in the 134-year history of the MU program to be chosen captain three years. Drinkwitz said Cook is dealing with the situation the best he can.

“He’s done everything in his power to prepare himself to play,” Drinkwitz said. “You would expect nothing less from him. Been great energy in the building, been attacking the rehab, been attacking the game plan. So, typical Brady Cook preparation and leadership.”