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The Florida Atlantic Owls take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday, Nov. 14. Kickoff is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
Tulsa is favored by -5.5 points on the spread with a moneyline of -218. FAU, meanwhile, enters as a +5.5 underdog and is +180 on the moneyline to pull off the upset. The over/under sits at 74.5 total points.
Here’s my FAU vs. Tulsa prediction and college football pick for Saturday, November 14.
FAU vs Tulsa Prediction
- FAU vs. Tulsa Pick: Tulsa -5.5 (-112)
My Tulsa vs. FAU best bet is on the Golden Hurricane to cover the spread. Find the best line available on our live NCAAF odds page, and download the Action Network app for more picks and analysis.
FAU vs Tulsa Odds
| FAU Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
+5.5 -108 | 74.5 -110o / -110u | +180 |
| Tulsa Odds | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spread | Total | Moneyline |
-5.5 -112 | 74.5 -110o / -110u | -218 |
- FAU vs Tulsa point spread: FAU +5.5 (-108), Tulsa -5.5 (-112)
- FAU vs Tulsa over/under: 74.5 (-110o / -110u)
- FAU vs Tulsa moneyline: FAU +180, Tulsa -218
FAU vs Tulsa College Football Preview
Florida Atlantic Owls Betting Preview: Exceeding Expectations
FAU is coming off a dominant home performance last week against UTSA — albeit the road version of UTSA. But the Owls nonetheless completely dominated from start to finish in a 60-29 win.
The Owls have vastly improved this year in situational execution and in-game coaching decisions. The passing offense is among the best in the college leagues.
The defense has also shown elements of toughness not seen last season. FAU has already exceeded preseason expectations by notching its sixth win last week.
Quarterback Caden Veltkamp has elevated his play considerably, completing 72% of his passes and throwing 27 touchdowns. Cutting down on interceptions and mistakes has helped this offense immensely, scoring 40.2 points per game.
The ground game is never going to be eye-popping, but it's been effective enough to average 135 yards. FAU has also been pretty effective running the ball in the red zone.
The receivers are electric, and the alpha in the room is Easton Messer, who ranks among the top receivers in the FBS in catches, yards and touchdowns.
Kelby Valsin and Dominique Henry are excellent second and third options, and this trio has combined to haul in 187 passes for 2,272 yards and 21 touchdowns.
This week will provide challenges against a tough Tulsa secondary, but expecting this unit to be completely shut down is simply unrealistic.
The defense hasn't been exquisite, but the unit can get stops and has forced timely turnovers in key situations.
The Owls' stop unit is allowing 462 yards and 35 points per game, and the run defense has been optional at times this season. Opponents are rushing for six yards per attempt, and FAU has surrendered 26 rushing touchdowns this season.
It's unrealistic to expect this defense to register a ton of Havoc and consistently get teams off the field, but 3-4 stops per game has been enough for the Owls to be on the right side of a ton of shootouts.
Tulsa Golden Hurricane Betting Preview: Great Upside Still
At this point in the season, you all know my opinion on Tulsa.
I think this team is top-three in the American, but due to blowing double-digit leads against Navy and North Texas and completely gifting a win to Army, the Golden Hurricane have fallen out of the conference race and now turn the page to achieving bowl eligibility.
This group played very inspired football coming out of the bye week, and I expect more of the same here given that Tulsa has not picked up a home win in nearly two months.
Quarterback Baylor Hayes had his best passing day of the season last time out, completing 79% of his passes with four passing touchdowns.
Hayes has taken a significant step forward this season, throwing for 1,681 yards in seven games (two missed due to injury) and posting a 14:2 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
The ground attack has been consistent, but the production should be better than it has been. Damari Alston and Trequan Jones have combined to rush for 913 yards and 11 touchdowns, averaging 4.9 yards per rushing attempt.
Oran Singleton has emerged as the go-to receiver with 712 yards and seven receiving touchdowns, while Javon Ross, Jimmy Calloway and David Wells Jr. provide multiple explosive options in the passing game.
The defense took the college football world by storm in the opener with a defensive line that created a ton of Havoc in a dominant 24-10 win over Oklahoma State.
Coming out of the bye week, the defensive line finally got back to the drive-stopping, Havoc-creating production we thought we'd see all season.
Six sacks and 13 tackles for loss thwarted several Tulane drives, and I expect this type of motivated play the rest of the season.
The coverage unit has also been exceptional over the last four weeks, partly aided by three triple-option teams faced during that stretch.
FAU vs Tulsa Pick, Betting Analysis
This line opened with Tulsa listed as a 3.5-point favorite and quickly moved to where it sits now, with the Golden Hurricane as 5.5-point favorites. The total opened at 70.5 and has ballooned out to 75.5.
I like Tulsa in this game, and I'm willing to lay the number.
Tulsa looked like a completely rejuvenated team out of the bye week after blowing three conference games earlier in the season.
The Owls have also overperformed, and while it can be hard to lay the number in a situation that looks like an even matchup, FAU's defensive performances on the road have been concerning.
The Owls have been shredded much of the season, but the last two road performances against North Texas and Army have been exceptionally concerning.
Giving up 559 yards per game, 7.7 yards per play and a combined 104 points on the road in its last two outings does not give me much confidence in backing this FAU team. Plus, the 608 yards and 10.5 yards per play allowed against Rice is equally disheartening.
FAU registered six sacks against UTSA, which grades out as one of the poorest offensive lines in the American, but before that, the Havoc was nonexistent for much of the season.
Tulsa will have advantages in the trenches on offense, and the Hurricane will run the ball well.
FAU also grades out as the worst tackling team in the conference, and the missed tackles piled up significantly, contributing to allowing 48 or more points in each of the last three games before playing UTSA.
Hayes will have time to throw the ball, and the explosive receivers should make plays for Tulsa just like we saw last week.
The FAU defense is among the worst at the FBS level in explosiveness surrendered, as the Owls have given up 56 plays that exceeded 20 yards this season, with 22 of those plays going for 40-plus yards.
FAU ranks dead last in the FBS in early-down explosiveness surrendered, last in rush-play explosiveness surrendered and 116th in Passing Success Rate allowed.
This is a bad matchup for the Owls defense here, and Tulsa should score a lot of points.
FAU will move the ball and score a decent amount of points in this game, but Tulsa’s defense is the more consistent unit and will register more stops. Tulsa ranks 36th nationally in preventing opponent explosiveness, and the coverage unit is very competent.
In what is expected to be a high-scoring affair, I'm going to lean on the Havoc-producers on the Tulsa defensive line to show up and create problems for the FAU offense. A couple of stops is all it's looking for to create separation.
Pick: Tulsa -5.5 (DraftKings)
