What was once derided as the ‘Crapple Cup’ has become one of the most important rivalries in the PAC 12. The Apple Cup between the Washington State Cougars and the Washington Huskies will determine the winner of the PAC 12 North. If Washington State can pull off the upset, the Cougars will win the PAC 12 North, but if the Huskies win, Stanford will earn the title.
Watch this regular season Week 13 matchup live on Saturday, November 25, 2017, at 8 p.m. ET at Husky Stadium in Seattle, Washington. This game will be broadcast on FOX.
College Football Opening Odds at BookMaker.eu
Washington State +10.5
Washington -10.5
Over/Under 48
Odds Analysis
A little bit of action has come in on the Cougars in this one. The spread opened at 11, but has since come down a bit. That might be ill advised as Washington State is 2-6 ATS over its last eight games against Washington.
Washington has looked shaky over the last couple weeks, specifically on defense. The Huskies failed to cover in either game as they lost by eight as a touchdown favorite against Stanford and then almost lost outright to Utah as a 17.5-point favorite. The defense gave up 30 points in both of those games and each game went over the total.
The Cougars had last week off, but their last two opponents were Stanford and Utah as well. Washington State fared better than its in-state rival, beating Stanford as a short underdog and then knocking off Utah as a short favorite.
Key Stat
For the first time in the Mike Leach era, Washington State has a very good defense. The Cougars aren’t just serviceable or competent, but actually very good and that has helped them get past teams like Stanford and Utah.
This season, Washington State is holding opponents to just 3.8 yards per carry. That’s one of the best numbers in the PAC 12 and they have really come up big against the best running backs they have faced. The Cougars held Bryce Love to just 69 yards, his worst performance of the season, and held Utah to 1.7 yards per carry last week.
Jake Browning has taken a small step back so the Huskies have relied more on Myles Gaskin. Gaskin is averaging six yards a carry and has found the end zone 15 times. If the Cougars can stop him, they have a good chance of winning this game.
Matchup to Watch
Washington has one of the best pass defenses in the country and the Cougars might have a hard time moving the ball through the air against them. The Huskies are in the top ten in terms of pass defense and are holding opponents to 5.8 yards per pass attempt.
Some of that is a result of Washington’s relatively weak schedule and the lack of quality quarterbacks it has faced, but the Huskies were very successful against Josh Rosen.
We all know how much the Cougars like to throw the ball. Luke Falk is going to end up throwing the ball over 500 times yet again this season. Wazzou does run the ball more than in the past, but still uses a short passing game to accomplish a lot of the same tasks as a run game.
Falk’s numbers are down a little bit, so he can be gotten to.
Free ATS Pick
This is the first time the total in this game has been in the 40s this decade. While we expect Washington’s defense to be good, we don’t expect the same from Washington State. The Cougars do struggle on the road though. They got pasted by both Cal and Arizona away from home.
With an extra week of rest and prep work, I like Washington State to get not only the cover here, but the outright win.
College Football Odds: Washington State 31, Washington 23
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