The X’s and O’s of the Alamo Bowl predictions aren’t shared by many expert handicappers, but here at Bankroll Sports, we are giving up all of our insight and telling you all of the keys to the game for the Texas Longhorns vs. Oregon State Beavers. The Alamo Bowl picks are some of the hardest to make this year of all of the bowl games, so don’t miss out on all of our Texas vs. Oregon State predictions!

2012 Alamo Bowl: Texas Longhorns vs. Oregon State Beavers
2012 Alamo Bowl Location: Alamodome, San Antonio, TX
2012 Alamo Bowl Date/Time: Saturday, December 29th, 6:45 p.m. (ET)
2012 Alamo Bowl On TV: ESPN, Watch ESPN

Click Here For The Rest Of The 2012-13 Bowl Game Schedule And Other Bowl Game Previews

Key #1: Both coaches had better be right with their quarterback choices
What a tough decision that both Head Coach Mike Riley and Head Coach Mack Brown had to make here at the Alamo Bowl! Brown’s choice for his starting quarterback became easy when QB Case McCoy got himself suspended on the eve of the game for violating team rules, so that really only leaves QB David Ash to carry the load under center. However, Riley made the interesting choice by giving the ball over to QB Cody Vaz instead of QB Sean Mannion, a move that really could come back to hurt the team when push comes to shove. Mannion did a fantastic job of leading this club at the outset of the year, but the move was made to Vaz instead. Oregon State did lose three of its last five games in the Pac-12 portion of the schedule, but in the end, Vaz had the significantly better numbers, especially in the interception category. Depending upon which coach made the right decision, the Alamo Bowl odds might be beaten just based upon the coaching staff and the moves that they have each made leading up to this game.

Alamo Bowl Odds at BetRevolution Sportsbook
Texas Longhorns +3.5
Oregon State Beavers -3.5
Over/Under 57.5
Click Here to Bet Your Alamo Bowl Picks!

Key #2: The Longhorns need to find a way to slow down these great OSU receivers
It hasn’t mattered one bit who the quarterback is for the Beavers from the standpoint of WR Markus Wheaton and WR Brandin Cooks. These two men have both been fantastic this year, and they are one of the few tandems in college football that each made it to 1,000+ yards on the campaign. Wheaton was more of the possession receiver, accounting for 87 grabs, 1,198 yards, and 11 scores, while Cooks was the big play man, catching 65 passes for 1,129 yards and five TDs. The two also combined to carry the ball 34 times for 183 yards and two TDs to boot, so the Beavs will do everything that they can to make sure that their top receivers get the football. This has been problematic for Texas at times in the past. WR Eric Ward and WR Darrin Moore combined for 15 catches and 234 yards when the Horns played against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. WR Terrance Williams and WR Lanear Simpson had 16 catches, 253 yards, and two TDs for the Baylor Bears. WR Tavon Austin and WR Stedman Bailey put together 18 receptions, 177 yards, and four scores against the West Virginia Mountaineers. It’s a problem that has plagued this team all year long, and it has to not carry over to the Alamo Bowl for Texas to win this game.

Key #3: Oregon State needs to capitalize on Texas turnovers
The Longhorns haven’t done a ton right this year by their own standards, but at least they hung onto the football and didn’t turn it over all that much. They only coughed it up a total of 13 times on the campaign, and the just over once per game wasn’t the reason that the team was beaten four times. The bad news though, is that Oregon State does have one of the more opportunistic defenses in the country, forcing 30 turnovers on the year, including picking off 19 passes. Senior DB Jordan Poyer is an electrifying kick returner, and he also led the team with seven INTs on the season, so he has the potential to make a real impact on the game. The more than Poyer gets his hands on the ball, the worse shape that Texas is going to ultimately be in.

Purchase Via Credit Card	Purchase By Paypal