Pac-10 Game of the Week – #24 Washington vs. Stanford

BetOnline NCAA Football Betting Odds: STANFORD -7, Total 52

If you’re looking for some heady stuff, here it is – Washington, after losing 15 straight games and protected from being the complete laughingstock of the Pac-10 only by the ineptitude of its in-state rival Washington State (well, check that, as they lost to the Cougars last year), has now suddenly won twice in a row, including a whale of an upset over USC, and gotten itself into a national poll! That’s right – the Huskies are ranked #24 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Here are some of the NCAA college football betting trends as they relate to this matchup:

• WASH has covered two of its last 13 games
• WASH has lost 15 of its last 17 games SU
• WASH has lost its last seven road games SU
• WASH is 0-5 ATS in its last five road games
• STAN has covered five of its last seven games
• STAN has lost four of its last six games SU
• STAN has played five of its last seven games OVER the total
• STAN has covered seven of its last eight home games
• STAN has won six of its last seven home games SU
• STAN has lost 15 of its last 22 home games SU
• STAN has played four of its last six home games OVER the total

Also….

• WASH has won six of the last nine meetings SU
• Four of the last five meetings have gone UNDER the total

If you’re looking for some heady stuff, here it is – Washington, after losing 15 straight games and protected from being the complete laughingstock of the Pac-10 only by the ineptitude of its in-state rival Washington State (well, check that, as they lost to the Cougars last year), has now suddenly won twice in a row, including a whale of an upset over USC, and gotten itself into a national poll! That’s right – the Huskies are ranked #24 in the Associated Press Top 25.

Of course, most of this is connected to the arrival of coach Steve Sarkisian, who has provided a stark contrast to the tenure of Tyrone Willingham because the Huskies are playing with much more confidence and have more of a blueprint to be competitive., You saw that in the first game of the season when they gave LSU all it could handle.

Against USC, which was where Sarkisian came from, they played like a team that had a pretty good scouting report and game plan. They also played with a better quarterback than they had for most of last season. Jake Locker is healthy and throwing the ball better, completing 60% of his passes and getting picked off only once. Last season he went out with an injury in the meeting with Stanford, which the Cardinal won 35-28.

The dynamic is tricky for Sarkisian’s team in this one. You can’t come up with a bigger name to upset than USC, and it would be almost impossible for U-Dub to get up to that fever pitch again.

On top of that, this is their first road game of the season, after hosting three in a row in Seattle. Furthermore, Stanford has proven to be double-tough at Palo Alto lately, covering seven of their last eight home games.

True, Stanford is a team that, like USC, comes along with a freshman starting at quarterback. But Andrew Luck (son of former NFL QB Oliver Luck) has more than held his own, completing 62% of his throws. He has the most dependable ground component in this game in Toby Gerhart (4.9 ypc), who can help this team move the chains.

Stanford also has the most explosive element in this contest, as sophomore Chris Owusu certainly has to be accounted for. Owusu, who saw very little action last season, has caught 12 passes for 197 yards and five TD’s, and averaged almost FIFTY-THREE yards on kickoff returns, scoring twice already.

We’re looking for a Washington letdown here, which is only natural, and Jim Harbaugh’s improved Cardinal will be there to take advantage. We’re laying the points with Stanford, the seven-point favorite in the BetOnline NCAA college football betting odds.

JAY’S PLAY: STANFORD -7 ***

(Graded on a scale of 1-4 stars)