Washington vs. Washington State Football Betting Preview
Where: Martin Stadium, Pullman, WA
When: Friday, November 25, 3:30 PM ET
Line: Washington Huskies (-6) at Washington State Cougars (+6); total: 64.0 – view all NCAA Football odds and lines
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Betting on the Washington Huskies (-6)
After being handed their first loss of the season by the USC Trojans, the No. 5 Washington Huskies bounced back nicely last Saturday by demolishing the Arizona State Devils, 44-18. And with that win, Washington keeps its hopes for a berth into the CFP alive.
Quarterback Jake Browning will definitely relish one of the biggest Apple Cup showdowns in recent memory against the Washington State Cougars this Friday, with both the Huskies and Cougars touting very explosive offenses. Browning, a strong candidate for the Heisman Trophy earlier this season, is arguably the best QB in his conference as he leads the Pac-12 in touchdowns (37) and QB rating (180.7).
What differentiates the Huskies from the Cougars, though, is how the former has a more sound ground attack in support of the passing game. Running back Myles Gaskin secured his fifth 100-yard rushing game of the season last Saturday with 127 yards and a TD. That now gives Gaskin 1,130 rushing yards for the year with a dazzling 6.2 yards-per-carry average.
Washington’s defense will certainly have a tough challenge ahead versus the Cougars, but there’s hardly anything that scares the 10th-best scoring defense in the nation (just 17.9 points allowed per contest). In fact, that D can certainly turn Washington State’s gameplan into a one-dimensional offense, as it is tops in the conference against the run with less than 130 rushing yards allowed per game.
Further tipping the scales in the Huskies’ favor is that they’ve won three straight and six of the last seven meetings against Cougars (5-2 ATS), which includes last year’s 45-10 beat-down at home.
Betting on the Washington State Cougars (+6)
The No. 22 Washington State Cougars could not have lost to the Colorado Buffaloes last Saturday (38-24) at a worse time. They snapped their eight-game win streak with that defeat, as well as the upper hand on Washington in the Pac-12 North standings.
Then again, the Cougars still have a great shot of representing their division in their final homestand of the regular season. They are 6-1 in Martin Stadium this year (5-2 ATS), with their only loss being a three-point defeat to Eastern Washington in the season opener when they were still getting their proper footing for the campaign.
In due time, though, quarterback Luke Falk would turn into one of the most prolific playmakers in the country. Falk has 3,935 passing yards this season wherein he only has two games without over 300 yards passing. He’s also tops in the FBS with a superb completion rate of 71.4 percent and an average of 34.6 completions per game. The junior QB is also second to Browning in Pac-12 with 36 touchdowns for the year.
But as terrific as Wazzu’s passing game has been, the same cannot be said for its ground game. The team is merely ranked 114th in the nation on rushing offense behind a three-headed back-by-committee consisting of Jamal Morrow, Gerald Wicks and James Williams. The three have combined for just 1,515 rushing yards this season, which is about 70 percent of the Huskies’ Gaskin’s output alone this year.
The Cougars’ middle-of-the-pack defense (50th in the nation with 25.5 points allowed per game) won’t cut it against Washington’s equally-potent offense, either. That being said, it seems that this classic inter-state clash on Friday will go to the statistically-better team once more.
Writer’s Prediction
The Huskies (-6) make it four-straight wins over the Cougars, 38-30.
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