Washington Huskies vs. Oregon Ducks Preview
Where: Autzen Stadium, Eugene, OR
When: Saturday, October 8, 7:30 PM ET
Line: Washington Huskies (-9) at Oregon Ducks (+9); total: 65.0 – view all NCAA Football odds and lines
TV Broadcast: FOX
Writer’s Pick: Washington Huskies
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Betting on the Washington Huskies (-9)
If you need further proof that the No. 5 Washington Huskies (5-0) are for real, look no further than their 44-6 demolition of the proud Stanford Cardinal program this past Saturday to stay undefeated for the season.
The Huskies, who are now priced at a sweet +700 to win national title, are firing on all cylinders. Quarterback Jake Browning is putting up video-game like numbers, having already thrown for 1,114 yards and 17 touchdowns while being picked off just twice and sporting a superb 70.7 completion rate this season. In addition, Browning has yet to be intercepted in the first half of a contest.
And let’s not forget about Washington’s shut-down defense. The team’s stop unit is currently ranked 15th in the country by allowing just 299.2 yeards per game and eighth overall when it comes to points allowed (12.8). That imposing D is also the best at creating opportunities, as they are tops in all of college football with 15 turnovers forced this season. It even has a superb tally of 20 sacks anf 10 forced fumbles to boot.
With a well-rounded program on both sides of the ball, it stands to reason then that the Huskies rank in the nation’s top 10 in terms of scoring offense and defense. Their sizzling-hot form, in turn, will all but assure that their 12-game losing streak (0-11-1 record ATS) to conference rivals the Oregon Ducks will come to an emphatic end this Saturday night.
Betting on the Oregon Ducks (+9)
Just as the Huskies are trending upward, the Oregon Ducks (2-3) have suddenly found themselves in a downward spiral. They embarrassingly lost to Pac-12 pushovers the Washington State Cougars last Saturday, 51-33, for a third-straight loss and go a dismal 0-2 in division play to pretty much kiss their national title dreams goodbye. Once again, Oregon’s defense was a total letdown. They gave up at least 21 points in each half of Saturday’s contest, and have now surrendered a whopping average of 42.3 points in each of their three losses.
The Ducks’ woes go beyond their D, as they now have quite a quarterback dilemma on hand as well. Freshman Dakota Prukop has over 1,000 yards passing this season, but he’s been sacked 10 times already and has statistically thrown a pick for each of his four touchdown passes.
While Prukop has not lived up to the Oregon’s expectations, is it really the right time to go with another newbie under center in Justin Herbert? Prukop’s backup has been speculated to start this Saturday against the Huskies, but he only has a small sample size of work to judge his capability of leading the team. Herbert took over late in the loss to the Cougars and went a decent 3-for-5 for 70 passing yards. However, one of those three completions was a 63-yard play to pad his yardage total for the day.
If there’s a silver lining to this downtrodden Ducks team, it would have to be Royce Freeman. The junior running back finished with 138 yards and three touchdowns against the Cougars, giving him a total of seven TDs for the season while boasting a dazzling 8.3 pards-per-carry average.
Then again, and even though the Ducks are 5-1 in their last six home games, they’re really in for another heartbreaker going up against Washington and its virtually impenetrable defense. Throw in the fact that Oregon is just 2-4 against the spread during that span, and you’d really be better off steering clear away from picking the former Pac-12 standouts to win this week, let alone cover the rather wide spread at that.
Writer’s Prediction
The Huskies (-9) take a huge bite out of the ailing Ducks, 40-22.
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