Wildcats vs Cardinal NCAA Football Spread/Handicapping
The Arizona Wildcats and the Stanford Cardinal both began their seasons with high-profile victories. Arizona took down No. 18 Oklahoma State, while the Cardinal defeated No. 2 USC. Many believed just two weeks ago that these two squads could challenge the leaders in their respective divisions, but following recent disappointments, each team is looking to bounce back in their week six matchup.
Arizona Wildcats (3-2) vs No. 18 Stanford Cardinal (3-1)
Saturday October 5, 2012
Stanford Stadium, Stanford, Calif.
3:00 PM ET
Moneyline: Stanford -340, Arizona +270 from GTBets.eu
Spread: Stanford -9
O/U: 54
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Arizona Wildcats
The name of the game with the Arizona Wildcats is offense. They’re not an atrocious defensive squad by any means, as they’ve kept their opponents under 30 points per game this season; but their offense is what made them look so pristine early in the year.
Despite being shut out by the Oregon Ducks two weeks back, the Wildcats are still averaging nearly 35 points per contest. Matt Scott has been outstanding at quarterback, having thrown for 1,608 yards and 10 touchdowns on the year. The running game has been decent as well, but Scott is going to be the one the team is counting on when they travel to Stanford this week.
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Coming off a heart-breaking home loss to the Oregon State Beavers, the Wildcats are in danger of losing three games in row following an unexpected 3-0 start. Head coach Rich Rodriguez has been great for this team early in the season, but Arizona has been tossed into one of the toughest starts to a season in all of college football. With eight ranked opponents in their first ten games, the team is in danger of making a great start to the year a distant memory.
Stanford Cardinal
The Stanford Cardinal proved that they are worthy of Pac-12 title consideration when they upset the USC Trojans, but a poor performance against the Washington Huskies took the spotlight off of them as quickly as they earned it.
The Cardinal struggled offensively last week against Washington’s defense, which is 33rd in the nation in points allowed (19.8 per game). Arizona’s defense hasn’t been as good this year (with the exception of their shutout against Southern Carolina State), and Stanford should be able to put up points after deciding to keep Nunez as their starter for week six.
Nunez looked brilliant the first few weeks of the season, but against Washington in week five, he came back down to earth and made fans in Stanford miss Andrew Luck for the first time all year. The junior is still a solid option behind center, and he should be able to find success against the team that is allowing 28.4 points per contest. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
The key matchup of this game is Arizona’s high-powered offense versus Stanford’s top-notch defense. Stanford is going to score points, so it’s going to come down to whether or not Arizona can put up points of their own. Stanford has one of the toughest defensive lines in all of college football, and the Wildcats could struggle to use their skill positions effectively against such strength and size.
The Cardinal have won this matchup the past two seasons convincingly. Expect both teams to show what they’ve got on offense, but with Arizona in the thick of a brutal mid-season stretch, Stanford could very well prove to be too much for the visiting Wildcats.
Trends
- Cardinal are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after scoring less than 20 points in their previous game.
- Cardinal are 21-3-1 ATS in their last 16 conference games.
- Cardinal are 4-1 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
- Cardinal are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.
- Over is 4-1 in Wildcats last 5 games following a ATS loss.
- Over is 5-1 in Wildcats last 6 games after allowing more than 280 yards passing in their previous game.
O/U Pick: Over 54
Score Prediction: Stanford 34 – Arizona 24
