Washington State at Arizona State
Written by Steve Janus - Google +
This Saturday the Arizona State Sun Devils will look to back on the winning track when they host the Washington State Cougars in Pac-10 action. The Sun Devils lost for the fourth time in five games, falling to California 50-17 last week, while the Cougars fell 38-28 at Stanford for their sixth consecutive loss. If you are thinking about betting on the game this weekend, the current odds have the Sun Devils favored by 21-points over the Cougars at home.
Washington State (1-7, 0-5 Pac-10): The Cougars 10-point loss at Stanford last week was their closest game since beating Montana State 23-22 back in their second game of the season. The problem is the Cougars weren’t exactly in the game, as they were down 31-7 before outscoring Stanford 21-7 in the final quarter.
It is hard telling just how bad the Cougars would be without quarterback Jeff Tuel. Tuel has pretty much carried the offense this season, and last week was no different. Against Stanford Tuel completed 21 of 28 attempts for 298 yards and four touchdowns, giving him 2,033 yards and 14 touchdowns on the season.
The running game continues to be non-existent for the Cougars this season, as they managed just 90 yards on the ground, and now come into the game this weekend with the 116th ranked rushing offense, averaging just over 81 yards a game.
The Cougars defense has also been a non-factor this season, as the Cougars simply can’t stop any offense from moving the ball on them. Washington State comes into the game giving up 40 points a game, that simply won’t cut it unless you are working with the Oregon offense.
Arizona State (3-4, 1-3 Pac-10): The 24-14 win the Sun Devils had just two weeks ago against Washington already feels like it was about a month ago, as the Sun Devils really got it handed to them last week by Cal. Arizona State led 3-0 early, but that didn’t last long, as the Golden Bears poured on 40 unanswered points to put the game away by the third quarter.
If it wasn’t for a blocked punt returned for a touchdown and a 25 yard fumble recovery by Clint Floyd for a touchdown, the score would have been much worse than it was. Arizona State managed just 11 first downs, totaled only 234 yards of total offense, and turned the ball over three times.
Offensively the Sun Devils should have a lot easier time moving the ball against a bad Washington State defense, but if the defense plays like it did last week, giving up six touchdowns and over 370 yards of total offense, they are going to have a hard time putting the Cougars away this Saturday.
Looking at the Odds: The oddsmakers continue to make the Cougars big underdogs each week, but they continue to cover the spread. In their last six games the Cougars have been at least 22 point underdogs, but have covered the spread five times. I look for Arizona State to win the game, but I think the game will be closer than the three score spread. My final score prediction is Arizona State 38, Washington State 27.
Got something to say?
