Sam Ehlinger has one more chance to stake his claim as a future NFL quarterback as he leads the Texas Longhorns into a Valero Alamo Bowl showdown against the Colorado Buffaloes. Ehlinger and the No. 20 Longhorns (6-3 SU, 3-5-1 ATS) seek their fourth consecutive bowl victory and are considerable favorites against a Buffaloes team (4-1 SU, 4-1 ATS) that looked solid in limited Pac-12 action.
- Date/Time: December 29, 9 p.m. ET
- Stadium: Alamodome, San Antonio
- TV Coverage: ESPN
- Sportsbook Odds: Texas -11.5 | O/U 64 (Line History)
- Texas vs Colorado Matchup Report
Alamo Bowl Odds Analysis
Texas opened the betting as an 11.5-point favorite, and the books are a bit scattered on this one, offering odds anywhere from -11.5 all the way to -13.5. The total of 64 has held steady in some spots, while bettors can also find 64.5 at others.
Texas News & Notes
Ehlinger has had an up-and-down season at the helm of the Longhorns offense and that might have negatively impacted his draft stock, particularly when you consider how deep the position is expected to be from a prospect perspective.
Ehlinger completed just 60.1 percent of his passes for 2,406 yards but had 25 touchdowns and just five interceptions while adding 382 rushing yards and eight scores.
Part of what makes Texas so difficult to defend on a regular basis is the versatility of their offense – and while that makes the Longhorns a nightmare for daily fantasy players, it’s a great option to have in the real world.
Four different players had 250 or more rushing yards for a Texas team that averages 5.0 yards per carry, while a dozen different Longhorns finished with at least one touchdown reception.
Colorado News & Notes
For Buffaloes fans, just being at a bowl game is reason enough to celebrate. This is only the second time since 2008 that Colorado will play in a bowl contest, and the previous experience – a 38-8 drubbing at the hands of Oklahoma State at the 2016 Alamo Bowl – was one to forget. The Buffaloes haven’t won a bowl game since 2004, when they defeated UTEP 33-28 at the Houston Bowl.
While the Buffaloes are by no means perfect on either side of the football (they produced a modest +2.6 average point differential in their five games), they’re more than capable of making things difficult for the Longhorns defense.
They’ll be leaning heavily on running back Jarek Broussard to get things done. He had a sensational season with 813 rushing yards, including a 301-yard showing vs Arizona.
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Betting Pick: Texas -13 (-110)
The Longhorns have traditionally been daunting playoff opponents – and with Ehlinger likely to leave for the NFL after this one, he will want to go out with a bang.
- Texas is 8-2 ATS in its last 10 games vs the Pac-12.
- Colorado is 1-8 SU and 2-7 ATS in its last 9 playoff games.
- Texas is 5-0 SU and 4-1 ATS in its last 5 games vs Colorado.
