The 3-3 Washington Huskies are set to square off with the 18th-ranked Arizona Wildcats on Saturday in a key Pac 10 matchup.
Washington picked up a huge home win over Oregon State in their last outing that kept them in the conference race. The Huskies now sit with a record of 2-1 in the Pac-10.
Arizona rebounded from its first loss of the season to defeat Washington State 24-7 last week.
Both teams desperately need this win to solidify their status as a true title contender.
Looking at the latest college football odds, the line is set at eight points favoring Arizona.
Washington continues to play inconsistently from week to week and needs to start stringing together a couple of wins in a row. The Huskies have alternated wins and losses their past five games, and if everything goes according to plan they will fall at Arizona this weekend. UW stopped a two-point conversion attempt by Oregon State in overtime to secure a 35-34 victory.
Jake Locker threw five touchdown passes against the Beavers and now has 13 on the year. The senior quarterback is completing 56.2 percent of his passes and has thrown for 1,431 yards. He has bounced back nicely from a disappointing performance vs. Nebraska earlier this year.
Sophomore Chris Polk has carried a heavy workload in the backfield this season. Polk is gaining over five yards per carry and has rushed for 571 yards. He is tied with Locker for the team lead in rushing touchdowns with three.
Wide receiver Jermaine Kearse is one of the top receivers in the nation that no one has heard about. His numbers jump off the page, but most of the country doesn’t see him play because of the West Coast start times. Kearse has 37 receptions for 623 yards and nine touchdowns.
Washington’s defense figured to improve this year with eight returning starters, but they are still giving up over 31 points per game.
The Arizona Wildcats have leaned on a stingy defense to secure a 2-1 record in Pac-10 play. Their offense has struggled to put points on the board recently and is averaging just over 20 per game the last three. This is a vital game for the U of A because they still have road games at Stanford and Oregon on the schedule.
Nick Foles took over the starting quarterback position midway through last season and has held on to the job since. He has thrown for 1,600 yards and nine touchdowns with five interceptions. Foles’ completion percentage is an astonishing 75.3 percent.
The run game is averaging just 120 yards per game, which ranks 90th nationally. Nic Grigsby leads the team with 340 yards on 64 carries and six touchdowns. Keola Antolin is second with 218 yards and three scores. Arizona runs a spread attack that uses a variety of short passes to work much like a running play would, so it is not surprising that the run numbers are low.
Juron Criner is having a fine season at receiver and has caught 33 balls for 551 yards and three touchdowns. He is averaging nearly 17 yards per catch. David Douglas has added 27 receptions for 250 yards and two scores.
Arizona’s defense has been nasty, giving up 13.3 points per game, which ranks seventh in the country.
Washington holds a series advantage of 17-8-1 in this matchup. The last three games have averaged a total of 73 points per game, so taking the over would be a wise choice. The Huskies defeated Arizona on an interception returned for a touchdown with 2:37 left in a 36-33 victory last year.
Washington is one of the toughest teams to read this season and is 3-3 ATS. I don’t see Arizona winning by more than a touchdown in this one, so grab the points.
Play: Washington +8
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