Sacramento State vs Arizona State NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The Arizona State Sun Devils didn’t play in Week 1, which means their matchup against the Sacramento State Hornets will be their first of the season. Sacramento State didn’t have last week off, but it probably wishes it did, as it fell 24-0 to San Jose State in the opener.
Sacramento State (0-1) @ Arizona State (0-0)
Thursday, Sept. 5, 10:00 PM ET @ Sun Devil Stadium
Moneyline: N/A
Spread: Arizona St. -36
O/U: N/A
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The Hornets are looking to bounce back from an ugly first game, while the Sun Devils look to improve on their impressive eight-win season from a year ago.
Sacramento State
The Pac-12 has already seen one team fall to an FCS squad—the Oregon State Beavers dropped a game to the Eastern Washington Eagles 49-46. Sacramento State hopes to be the second to take down an FBS opponent, but it’ll have a tough time doing just that in Week 2 of the season.
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In the team’s opener against San Jose State, the numbers were deceiving. It lost 24-0, but those 24 points are the second-fewest it has allowed against preseason competition, in which its goal was not to win, but to earn money for the university.
Defensively, the team stopped a team that averaged nearly 35 points per game in 2012—a team that went 11-2 on the year.
Offensively, this team missed a handful of opportunities to make this a respectable contest, including field-goal chances. San Jose deserves credit for its defensive efforts, but the truth is that the Hornets simply looked rusty on that side of the ball.
In recent years, Sacramento State has had success in winning over Pac-12 schools. Last year it took down Colorado 30-28, and in 2011 it defeated the Beavers 29-28 in overtime. This is a team you can’t sleep on, as it has confidence entering this type of contest. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Arizona State
The Arizona State Sun Devils had better take advantage of soft competition while they’ve got it. The Hornets come from the Big Sky Conference, which will be used as a warmup heading into consecutive matchups against the Wisconsin Badgers, Stanford Cardinal, USC Trojans and Notre Dame Fighting Irish—all ranked opponents.
Entering the contest against Sacramento State, Arizona State has praised Sacramento State quarterback Garrett Safron. The QB can make plays both on the ground and through the air, which will challenge the Sun Devils’ defense right out of the gate.
The Hornets will give ASU a lot of different looks, whether it be in the pistol, with screens or with scrambles out of broken plays.
The Sun Devils’ defense excelled in rushing the backfield last season, as it was near the top of the standings in both sacks and tackles for loss—this will be a major part of the attack come Week 2.
Sacramento State will look to combat the fierce defense with its no-huddle offense. So long as ASU can substitute its third-down personnel quickly, it will be okay against an offensive group that failed to score a point against San Jose State one week ago.
On offense, the Sun Devils will look at what San Jose State did a week ago, but intensify it with a more up-tempo strategy.
The Hornets only recorded one sack against the Spartans, and if that theme continues, Arizona State will be in good shape for its first game of the season.
O/U Pick:
Score Prediction: Arizona St. 34 – Sacramento St. 6
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