A battle between a pair of struggling Pac-12 teams takes place Saturday in college football action when the Washington State Cougars travel to take on the Oregon State Beavers. The game is scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on the Pac-12 Network. Currently the odds for the game have the Beavers favored by better than a touchdown in this one.
It's too bad Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday just busted up last week and will miss the rest of the season. Although the Cougars are atrocious on defense and can't seam to find a way to win football games, Halliday was worth tuning in and checking out their games. The quarterback already had 526 attempts on the season, equating to better than 58 passes per game, for 3,873 yards and 32 touchdowns. Wazzou ranks tops in the country in passing yardage per game, tossing for more than 478 yards through the air per game.
But on the flip side, they cannot run the football at all and are just terrible on defense. Despite a miracle 28-27 win over Utah earlier this season the only win on the schedule came over Portland State. Mike Leach can whip the ball all over the yard and score a ton of points, but giving up more points than you can score yourself isn't good.
Oregon State is also a team not having a good season at 4-4. The Beavers sat at 4-1 just a few weeks back but have dropped three straight to Utah, Stanford and California. This could be their final chance at a win, too, as the Beavers end the season with games against Arizona State, Washington and Oregon.
Expect some points to be scored in this one. Oregon State has the better defense but that isn't saying much as opponents average nearly 29 points per game against them this season. Only Portland State (14) and San Diego State (7) have scored fewer than 29 points against them as well. Kind of weird, but that's college football.
Sean Mannion surely hasn't lived up to expectations in Corvallis. The senior quarterback has just nine touchdowns this season and 2,000 yards through the air. Oregon State cannot run the football, either, which has hurt the offense immensely.
OSU and Wazzou have met 98 times on the gridiron with Oregon State winning six of the last seven overall. With Halliday out for the game and the Beavers needing this win to have any hope at a bowl game, look for them to get it done at home.
Free Pick: Oregon State 38, Washington State 28
College Football Free Picks: Oregon vs Utah Betting
What college football bettors need to know about betting Oregon Ducks vs Utah Utes on Saturday (11/08/14) - a free pick from Pregame.com's Bryan Leonard with added insight from Brady Kannon.