If you thinking that many Oregon Ducks followers, not to mention plenty of college football bettors, are looking at Saturday’s game between OU and the Washington State Cougars as an opportunity for Marcus Mariota to pad his stats, you are probably right. But this series has not necessarily been a waddle in the park for the Ducks. These clubs get together at 10:30 PM ET in Pullman, WA.
Oregon’s big moment in the early going was a 46-27 victory over Michigan State, as they pulled away late. Last week they hammered Wyoming 48-14. Currently they are ranked second in the country in the Associated Press poll and #3 in the coaches’ poll.
Washington State was beaten in Seattle on the opening weekend by Rutgers, and then disappointed against Nevada as a 3.5-point favorite in the NCAA odds, losing 24-13. The Cougars got their first win of the season last week when they beat FCS entry Portland State 59-21.
In the college football betting odds that have been posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Ducks are favored by more than three touchdowns:
NCAA College football odds Courtesy Of BetAnySports USA Online Sportsbook
Oregon Ducks -23
Washington State Cougars +23
Over 79 Points -110
Under 79 Points -110
Mariota, the Hawaii native, threw 63 TD passes with just ten interceptions in his first two years in an Oregon uniform. And he is off to a great start this season, with eight TD’s without an interception. Mariota is 70% accurate and is averaging 11.4 yards an attempt, which is phenomenal. He came into this season as a prime Heisman candidate, and certainly didn’t do anything to hurt his cause against Michigan State, as he tossed three touchdown passes.
Washington State is coached by Mike Leach, and of course that means they are more or less an aerial circus. In fact, Wazzu is ranked #1 in the country in passing yards, but there is absolutely no balance in their attack. They average 517 yards through the air but only 40 on the ground. That’s all BetAnySports customers need to know.
Leach has a quarterback who can make things happen in Connor Halliday, who had 4597 yards and 34 TD’s last season and is on a pretty good pace after just three games, with 1465 yards and a dozen touchdown passes. College football bettors should note that half of those TD’s came against Portland State. But this is a kid who’s got a pretty quick release and seems to have become a student of Leach’s “Air Raid” offense.
Washington State has enough “back door” capability that you don’t want to lay a lot of points against them. They have covered the last four meetings against Oregon, even last season, when the Ducks scored 62 points and held WSU to two net rushing yards.
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