Thunderbirds vs Cougars College Football Free Pick
Washington State is all smiles after defeating ranked division foe Southern California, but must keep their head in the game if they want to make waves in the Pac-12. For Southern Utah, they are just looking to keep the ball rolling after starting the season off 2-0.
Southern Utah (2-0) vs Washington State (1-1)
Saturday September 14
Martin Stadium – Pullman, WA
6:30 pm EST
Moneyline:
Spread: Washington State -21
O/U: 46
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With momentum on both sides, one team has nothing to lose in this matchup while the other has everything to lose. That can be a very dangerous concoction.
Southern Utah
Southern Utah is leaving their comfy confines of home and embarking on a 3 game road trip, starting in Pullman. SU quarterback Aaron Cantu hasn’t thrown for a ton of yardage for his team, but his accuracy has been dead on, connecting for 5 touchdown passes on the season.
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Cantu was just named the College Football Performance Awards player of the week for his performance last week.
Couple that with the spearhead of running backs on the team, and the Thunderbirds are sporting a 35.5 point per game average offensively.
Defensively, SU is giving opponents fits. They caused 7 turnovers alone last week against Fort Lewis including forcing a nation-leading 5 fumbles. Linebacker Matt Holley is tied for the FCS lead in tackles for loss, averaging 2.8 per game.
Southern Utah has faced a Pac-12 opponent only once before this meeting, a 51-30 loss to Cal. A big win here for the Thunderbirds would certainly raise some eyebrows in the Big Sky Conference, where Southern Utah is entering it’s second season after leaving the Great West Conference.
This is the first time in school history that the Thunderbirds will play a 12 game schedule. [soliloquy id=”82219″]
Washington State
The Cougars shocked conference foe USC last week behind a strong defensive performance. They stifled the USC quarterbacks and held them to 54 yards passing while cornerback Damante Horton scored their only touchdown on a 70 yard interception returned for a touchdown. The team will look to stifle SU with Horton and safety Deone Bucannon (22 tackles) leading the way for the Cougar defense.
With an offense that has averaged 17 points per game early on in the season, Washington State is hoping the offensive charm of head coach Mike Leach rubs off on this young team, especially starting quarterback Connor Halliday. Halliday has had a rough time this year, sporting a 1 to 5 touchdown to interception ratio, but he has help out of the backfield from dual threat running backs Teondray Caldwell and Marcus Mason.
If Halliday can go back to last season’s form, the Cougs could be poised to put on an air show. Otherwise, they will have to rely on the defense to keep them in games like it did against USC.
Betting Trends
- Washington State is 16-7 in home openers since 1990.
- The Cougars own 19 shutouts against Big Sky opponents and a 16-game winning streak.
- Cougars are 6-0 ATS vs. a team with a winning record.
Prediction: Washington State -21
The big win over USC was impressive but ugly. Washington State will get back on track this week against a team who is trying to secure their first ever win against a Pac-12 team.
