College football with in the Pac-12 on Saturday as the Washington State Cougars take on the Arizona Wildcats in Tuscon Arizona. The game will televised on the Pac-12 Network and has a start time of 2:00 pm (Eastern). Vegas odds have Arizona listed as 12 point favorites, while the total sits at 66.
Analysis: Even though it might not seem like it, Washington State has shown some improvement in Leach's second year at the helm. The Cougars are 4-5 overall, already eclipsing their win total from last year, though at 2-4 in Pac-12 play there is still work to be done. Leach is not shy at all about wanting to throw the ball all over the field as they have been one of the most prolific teams in the Pac-12 through the air, ranking second behind Oregon State (365.8 ypg). Leading this attack is QB Connor Halliday, who has thrown for 3,098 yards and 20 touchdowns, completing 62.7 percent of his pass attempts. On the bad side, though, he does have 18 INTs as well. Halliday has completed at least 20 passes to nine receivers, led by Gabe Marks, who has hauled in more than twice as many receptions (63) as any other player on the roster, while totaling 721 yards and 6 Tds. On defense, the Cougars are among the three worst teams in the Pac-12 in total defense (453.1 ypg).
The Wildcats are off a tough home loss to UCLA last week and they enter the game at 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the conference. The Wildcats are a run-heavy squad, as they rank second in the Pac-12 in rushing offense (271.3 ypg), while averaging 34.8 points per game. RB Ka’Deem Carey ranks second nationally with 152.6 rushing yards per game and is closing in on the school’s career rushing mark held by Trung Canidate. Carey will look to top 100 rushing yards for the 13th consecutive time in this game. B.J. Denker has done a good job running this offense, as he has hit 58.4% of his passes for 1,688 yards and 11 Tds, while keeping his miscues at a minimum with just 4 INTs. Denker is also quite a threat on the ground as he has 645 yards and 11 touchdowns on 121 carries. Arizona isn't blowing anyone away with its defense, ranking near the middle of the Pac-12 in both scoring (22 ppg) and total defense (384.3 ypg).
Pick: I sense that the Cougars are starting to run out of gas. They come in on an 0-3 run and have been outscored by 28.7 ppg in the 3 games, plus in their last 4 Pac-12 losses they have been outscored by 24 points or more in each loss. The defense has been horrendous for this team of late, allowing a whopping 624.7 ypg and 56.3 ppg in their last 3 games. Since they allowed just 7 points in the win over USC, they have now allowed 49.2 ppg in their last 5 Pac-12 games. That is not good for them as they will now take on an Arizona squad that is on fire offensively, averaging 514.4 ypg and 34.3 ppg in their last 3 games, while also averaging 33.5 ppg at home this year. On the other side the Cougars are 7th in the nation in passing, but Arizona comes in 29th vs the pass. The Cougars just don't stack up well in this game, especially with their defense so bad. The Arizona ground game that is 12th in the nation will wear out this Washington State defense that is 85th vs the run on the way to winning the game by 17 points or more.
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