Buffaloes vs Huskies NCAA Football Odds
The Washington Huskies (4-1, 2-0) have a chance to knock off their second PAC 12 newbie in a row when they face the Colorado Buffaloes (1-4, -02) at Husky Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Buffaloes v Huskies
Venue/Stadium: Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington
Time/Date: 3:30 PM ET, Saturday, October 15, 2011
NFL Odds From: Betonline.com
Spread (ATS): Washington -14.5
Over/Under: 58.5
Two weeks ago Washington easily handled the Utes, the other new PAC 12 team, 31-14 in Utah. That outing saw big numbers from sophomore Husky quarterback Keith Price who threw for 226 and three touchdowns. In fact, in terms of passing efficiency, Price is right behind Stanford uber-quarterback Andrew Luck this season.
With the win over the Utes, Washington is off to their best start since 2006 and there couldn’t be a better opponent to face at home when you looking for win than the Buffaloes.
After a painful 48-7 loss to the Stanford Cardinal (5-0, 3-0) Colorado minted their 20th consecutive road loss, and that’s not their only problem. Injuries have plagued their defense all season and, last week, head coach John Embree suspended four more defensive players for breaking unspecified team rules.
But a depleted defense is the least of Colorado’s woes. There’s absolutely nothing special about their special teams this season. Against Stanford, a muffed field goal attempt to take the lead early in the game turned into a Stanford touchdown. That pretty much tells the whole story of the kind of year they’re having in Boulder.
The Huskies are coming off of a bye week and should be good shape for whatever the Buffs can throw at them. According to coach Steve Sarkisian, Price basically had the bye week off entirely to rest from nagging ankle woes. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Washington’s defense has been running hot and cold this season giving up around 29 points per game, while allowing opponents to convert on third down 52 percent of the time. But take out their 51-38 loss to Nebraska and that number goes down to 19 ppg. And the Buffaloes will be hard pressed to score 19 points on Saturday.
There’s also been substantial defensive improvement as the season has worn on. They held Utah to a measly 17 rushing yards, while forcing five turnovers.
Despite their miserable record, there are some bright spots for the Buffs coming into this tilt. Quarterback Tyler Hansen was able to put up 202 passing yards against the vaunted Stanford defense last week, despite throwing an interception. This season he’s 113-202 for 1527 yards and 12 touchdowns. But he has been sacked 16 times this year, including three times on Saturday.
And, overall, the offense hasn’t been making the kinds of boneheaded mistakes that have crippled the special teams.
Should the Buffaloes have any shot of winning against the Huskies, they’ll need to protect Hansen and avoid costly special teams mistakes. But if Washington plays anything like they did against Utah, this will be all Huskies.
As of this writing, Colorado is a 14.5 underdog, down from being a 16 point dog at the opening. It’s seems very unlikely that this dysfunctional CU team is going to get its act together in the face of Husky squad that’s well rested and hitting on all cylinders.
Colorado is 4-2 ATS, while the Huskies are currently 4-1 ATS.
Matt’s Prediction: Washington 41-14
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