The No. 16 Arizona Wildcats (3-1) will head to take on the No. 21 Stanford Cardinal (3-1) this week in a huge matchup. The country’s fifth-leading rusher, Nick Wilson (570 yards, 5 TDs) will be featured in this game. It will begin Saturday, Oct 3 at 8:00 p.m. ET.
In last week’s matchup, Stanford defeated Oregon State 42-24. Barry Sanders had a great game running the ball in the victory, dashing seven times for 97 yards and two TDs. Kevin Hogan had 163 yards and two TDs through the air. Arizona had an ugly loss against UCLA 56-30 in its matchup. Nate Phillips had a good performance for the Wildcats, pulling in two receptions for 37 yards and one TD. Jared Baker put up 58 rushing yards and a TD on 10 carries.
This week’s matchup between the Cardinal and the Wildcats has even odds and the Over/Under (O/U) is currently not available.
With a 3-1 both Straight Up (SU) and Against The Spread (ATS), the Cardinal will look to improve as they head into Week 5. The Cardinal average 4.5 yards each time they throw, 13th in the nation. Crossing over to the defensive side of the ball, the Cardinal look to have a distinct advantage in certain spots. The Cardinal have a passing defense in the top half of the country (in terms of yards per pass allowed), but can move up in the ranks when they face off against Arizona. The Wildcats average just 10.9 yards per pass, ranking them 101st in the country. With the eighth-highest time of possession per game at 34:26, expect Stanford to control the clock this week.
Over on the other sideline, the Wildcats head into Week 5 with records of 2-2 ATS and 3-1 SU. They enter the week as the country’s seventh-best scoring offense, recording an average of 48.2 points per game on opposing defenses. Preparing for Arizona’s scoring defense will give the Cardinal headaches in the film room. So far this year, the Wildcats defense has only allowed opponents to score an average of 30.2 points. Arizona is good at avoiding penalties this season. The team only receives five per game on average, the 24th-fewest in the country.
Predictions: SU Winner – Arizona, ATS Winner – Arizona
Notes
Stanford is 6-1 SU in its last 7 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 11 of Stanford’s last 16 games.
Stanford is 4-1-1 ATS in its last 6 games at home.
Stanford is 22-3 SU in its last 25 games at home.
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Stanford’s last 7 games at home.
Stanford is 5-1 SU in its last 6 games when playing Arizona.
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Stanford’s last 9 games when playing Arizona.
Stanford is 4-1 SU in its last 5 games when playing at home against Arizona.
The total has gone UNDER in 4 of Stanford’s last 6 games when playing at home against Arizona.
Both teams are 3-0 SU when leading at the half this season, and both teams are 0-1 when losing at halftime.
Dating back to last year, Stanford is 7-3 SU against Pac-12 opponents, while Arizona is 5-4 SU against in-conference foes.
When analyzing just in-conference ranks, Arizona has the edge in the passing game. Its passing attack (ranked eighth in the Pac-12) will face the ninth-ranked pass defense of Stanford, while its eighth-ranked pass defense will look to limit the ninth-ranked passing game of the Cardinal.
When analyzing just conference ratings, Arizona has the advantage in the run game. Its first-ranked rushing attack will face the 11th-ranked rush defense of Stanford, while its first-ranked run defense will look to contain the 11th-ranked run game of the Cardinal.
