Washington State at UCLA Spread
Written by Jack Jones - Google +
The Washington State Cougars are off to a surprising start to the 2011 season. To make a believer out of many more college football fans, they’ll need to go into UCLA this weekend and come away with a victory. The Bruins are off to a sluggish start, though they’ve played a much more difficult schedule. UCLA has won the last three meetings in this series, including last year’s 42-28 triumph. Trailing 28-20 in the third quarter, the Bruins went on to score 22 unanswered points to close out the game.
According to the latest lines, the books have set a spread of UCLA -3.5 over Washington State with a total set of 62 points.
Washington State
The Cougars compiled a putrid 5-32 record in head coach Paul Wulff’s first three years on the job, not once getting more than two wins in a season. Washington State (3-1, 1-0 Pac-12) has already surpassed that season win total, and have their sights set on a bowl bid for the first time since 2003. They got a huge win last week at Colorado thanks to a Marquess Wilson 63-yard touchdown grab from quarterback Marshall Lobbestael with only 1:10 left in the game. In fact, the Cougars scored two touchdowns over the final 2 ½ minutes to win 31-27.
Lobbestael took over for the injured Jeff Tuel at quarterback in Week 1, and he has flourished ever since. He threw for 376 yards and three touchdowns against the Buffaloes to give Wulff only his second road win in four years. For the season, Lobbestael is completing 63.4 percent of his passes for 1,335 yards and 13 touchdowns to three interceptions. His favorite target has been Marquess Wilson, who has 21 grabs for 550 yards (26.2/reception) and five touchdowns. Ricky Galvin has a team-high 220 rushing yards on only 29 attempts (7.6/carry) with three scores.
Washington State ranks 10th in the country in total offense (518.5 yards/game), including 4th in passing offense (379.0 yards/game). They are averaging a whopping 44.5 points/game as well. Defensively, the Cougars have been greatly improved from a year ago. They rank 51st in total defense (361.8 yards/game) while allowing just 19.8 points/game. After nearly beating the Bruins last season, this team is primed for an upset bid Saturday.
UCLA
The Bruins have been dealt a pretty brutal schedule to this point as they’ve been an underdog in four of five games. They did win outright at Oregon State, while also topping San Jose State as a favorite, but so far this team has showed little improvement from 2010. UCLA (2-3, 1-1 Pac-12) was trounced at home by then-No. 23 Texas 49-20 three weeks ago, and they lost at then-No. 6 Stanford 45-19 last week. Richard Brehaut had a pretty solid day, throwing for 202 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. But the defense surrendered 442 total yards to the Cardinal and did not force a turnover.
Brehaut is at least not killing his team with turnovers this season. He is completing 55.4 percent of his passes for 907 yards and six touchdowns with no picks. James Franklin has been a load on the ground, rushing for 399 yards (6.1/carry) and two touchdowns. His running mate, Derrick Coleman, has also rushed for 303 yards (5.8/carry) and four scores.
Nelson Rosario has proven to be their only reliable target at receiver, catching 23 balls for 360 yards. Joseph Fauria has 12 grabs for 196 yards and a team-high four touchdown receptions. UCLA ranks 60th in total offense (397.6 yards/game) and 95th in total defense (418.2 yards/game). Their secondary will certainly be tested this week against a WSU team that loves to air it out.
Betting Trends
The Cougars are 8-2 ATS in their last 10 meetings with UCLA. Washington State is riding a 7-2 ATS run in conference games, and they are 9-3 ATS in their last 12 contests overall.
UCLA is a very profitable 8-2 ATS in their last 10 games as a home favorite of 3.5-10.0. The Bruins are 2-10 ATS in their last 12 conference games, and 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games overall.
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