No. 9 Washington Huskies (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) vs. Arizona Wildcats (2-1 SU, 0-3 ATS)
College Football Week 3
Date/Time: Saturday, September 24, 7:30PM EST (4:30PM PST)
Where: Arizona Stadium, Tucson, AZ.
TV: PAC 12 Network
by Wilson, NCAA Football Handicapper, Predictem.com
Point Spread: UW -11/AZ +11
Over/Under Total: OFF
The University of Washington Huskies take their game on the road this weekend as they travel to the Southwest to play in the desert at Arizona Stadium. The Huskies are riding a five game winning streak dating back to last seasons 45-10 demolishing of in-state rival Washington State and their 44-31 bowl win over Southern Miss. This season the Huskies are expected to finish towards the top of the Pac 12 North with the likes of Stanford and possibly California. Last year the Huskies were young (really young) yet they are still young they have grown up quite a bit and are primed to make a run at a BCS game. In order to become legit however they must put the beat-down on their conference foes and not just the weak opponents theyve faced so far in this early season. UW Head Coach, Chris Petersen, is poised to have his team in a position to do just thatbeat teams up on both sides of the pigskin.
Offensively, UW has some weapons in 2nd year QB Jake Browning who threw 4 TDs last week and is becoming a better decision maker in the pocket. Browning has nearly mastered the offense and feels comfortable leading his teammates down the field. Husky WR Chico McClatcher is one of Brownings favorite targets as he pulled in two TD passes from 43 and 13 respectively. UW RB, Miles Gaskin also pulled in a TD pass and ran for another score in the route of lower division Portland State (41-3) last week. The Las Vegas sports books and the offshore books have yet to assign a line on this game but you can anticipate the Huskies getting the nod as the favorite in this contest. I think the Arizona Wildcats are excited to have this game at hometeams never want to open conference play on the road in Seattletough to win there.
Arizona opened the season with an 18-16 loss to BYU, and then rebounded with back to back wins over Grambling State 31-21 and Hawaii 47-28. The play of backup QB Brandon Dawkins (QB Anu Solomon is out with a knee injury) will be key in this matchup with the Huskies. Dawkins is a super athletic QB who can pass and really run well (he had 118 yards on the ground last week and ran for 3 TDs while passing for 235 yards and another TD). If the Wildcats can get Dawkins some protection and the O-line can open up some running lanes for both freshman RB J.J. Taylor (Taylor stepped in when RB Nick Wilson went out with an ankle injury) who rushed for 168 yards on 18 carries and a TD, and Dawkins they will be a handful of trouble for the Washington defense. However, the Wildcat defense may be the main concern this week as they prepare for the Huskies. Arizonas defense allowed 3 consecutive scores and had a ton of penalties in the second half versus Portland State. The Wildcats will need to quickly fix their defensive issues if they want a chance to knockoff the No. 9 team in the country. Both Solomon and Wilson are questionable as of this writing, and it will be interesting to see if Dawkins and Taylor can produce the same kind of numbers against one of the best defenses in the Pac 12. The Huskies secondary D is super talented.
The Washington Huskies on all accounts will take care of business in the land of the cactus. UW is firing on all cylinders right nowand the rest of the conference best look out when they face them. Coach Petersen gives his guys a great week of prep and then the Dogs tame the Cats in Tucson! Currently no line is out on this contest but I see the Huskies D getting stops and the Huskies offense getting points.
I like the Huskies to cover and win.
Wilson’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: The Washington Huskies cover. Luck to ya.
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