The Washington Huskies bounced back from a surprising 13-7 loss at the Arizona State Sun Devils to beat the UCLA Bruins 44-23 last week. Now they will turn their attention to a must-win game with their Pac-12 playoff hopes on the line. Washington’s loss to Arizona State might be enough to keep them out of the College Football Playoff mix but they are still at the top of the Pac-12 North division with a 7-1 record. Next up is a favorable matchup against an Oregon side that rallied for a big win over the Utah Utes following three straight blowout losses. The Ducks have dropped three of their last four and will be a 26-point underdog when they travel to Washington this weekend.
Details
Odds: Washington -17.5
Date & Time: Saturday November 4th, 2017 – 10:00 PM ET
Location: Husky Stadium, Seattle, Washington
Broadcast: FOX Sports 1
Reasons To Bet On The Oregon Ducks
Oregon was blown away at Stanford a couple of weeks ago but split its other two road games including a 37-35 loss at Arizona State. The Ducks showed last week they won’t lay down for anybody and they should be motivated to hurt the Huskies standing in the Pac-12 this week. The loss of quarterback Justin Herbert really hurts the Oregon offense but head coach Willie Taggart has not confirmed whether or not he will play this Saturday versus Washington. Freshman Braxton Burmeister was limited to 47 passing yards and a touchdown in last week’s win over the Utes. The Ducks running backs combined 333 rushing yards and two scores. Oregon will rely heavily on its run game again this week as they look to pound the rock and keep the ball away from a dangerous Huskies offense. The potential return of Herbert could provide an additional spark but right now it appears as though he will not play on Saturday.
Reasons To Bet On The Washington Huskies
The Huskies had a lot to clean up on their bye week. It’s a good thing that they have had two weeks to prepare for this showdown against a UCLA side that is inferior on paper. Junior quarterback Jake Browning was limited to 139 passing yards in the loss to Arizona State and actually fared worse in Washington’s win over UCLA with just 98 passing yards and an interception. The Huskies still beat the Bruins by 21 points but they will need to be much better in order to contend for a Pac-12 title this season. Running back Myles Gaskin rumbled for 169 yards and a touchdown against UCLA and will factor heavily on to the offense again this week. The Washington defense will also need to step up once again.
Outlook
We’ve seen a lot of movement on this betting line as there is some uncertainty with Ducks quarterback Justin Hebert. He was listed as an ‘or’ on the depth chart with Braxton Burmeister for this week and that could mean that he’s healthy enough to play. It could also be gamesmanship. At any rate, the betting line opened up at Washington -18 and it has climbed as high as Washington -21. At this point, it has come all the way back down, though, and sits at Washington -17.5. Those are some big moves in both directions. As far as the total goes, the game opened up at 55. It has come down as low as 52 but is now back up to 53.5. The quarterback situation is obviously a factor in this spot.
The Huskies will close out the season with a road trip to Stanford followed by back-to-back home games against Utah and Washington State. While they might not lose to the Ducks this week, they might not be at their best with a looming showdown with the Cardinal right around the corner. Oregon showed some fight in last week’s win over the Utes. They won’t win this week but they should be able to keep it close long enough to cover the massive 17.5-point spread on the road at Washington.
Pick: Oregon +17.5
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