Washington was favorites by 6-points when these teams met last year, but came away with a 46-point win as they completely annulated the competition. With three straight lopsided wins coming into this game and this game on their minds, Washington should be plenty confident, but can we look for some stumbles as they potentially look past this matchup? That’s not likely given it represents their first Pac-12 matchup of the year. Washington will also be anxious for their first win over the Wildcats in Arizona in a decade.
This contest in Week 4 of the regular season will go down Saturday, September 24, 2016, at 10:30 p.m. ET at Arizona Stadium.
Odds Analysis
Washington has covered the spread three straight seasons against Arizona while the under has paid out for those betting the point totals. The Huskies are the superior team, ranked No. 9 in the nation, but the home team has had the advantage when these two teams have met over the years. In fact, despite Washington’s recent run on ATS wins, the SU victor has been the home team in eight straight contests, dating back to 2008.
If there is a time to break that streak, now is it. The Huskies have looked very strong in their early season games. Sure, the competition has been weak, but aside from Week 3, they’ve covered the spread and even against Portland State they won by 38-points. Games that lopsided are often hard for the superior team to cover the spread with the winner often easing up on the gas pedal late in the game.
Matchup to Watch
The Washington pass offense has been responsible for much of the damage in the early going for the Huskies. Of course, the entire offense has been clicking against lesser competition, but as they start seeing better teams, it’ll be up to the Jake Browning and the pass offense to carry the load.
Browning is back for another season and has gotten off to a red hot start, completing 71.6-percent of his passes for 744 total yards and 12 touchdowns. Arizona quarterback Anu Solomon, meanwhile, has a 0:2 touchdown to interception ratio though a knee injury has limited his role over the season’s first three games. Brandon Dawkins has filled in admirably with 62-percent of his passes completed and a pair of touchdown. Dawkins has also rushed for five scores in 31 carries.
The Arizona rushing attack will be hard sell against the Washington defensive front. They’re allowing just 91.3 rushing yards per game so far. On the flip side, the Huskies’ passing game could have yet another big game.
We’ve noted the prolific numbers for Browning. The Arizona defense, meanwhile, hasn’t been able to stop the opposing passing attack.
Last Meetings
It was just under a year ago when these two Pac-12 foes last squared off and it was quite the one-sided showdown.
Washington played host to the Wildcats on Halloween, scoring early and often in route to a commanding 49-3 victory.
This time, the matchup is in Arizona and that should help the Wildcats a bit, but they’ll need to play much better than they did last year when Solomon completed just 18-of-31 pass attempts while giving up a pair of picks in the process. In general, the team had just 330 yards of total offense and turned the ball over on four separate occasions.
Meanwhile, Arizona couldn’t do anything to slow Washington. The Huskies took advantage of the turnovers and Browning completed all but eight pass attempts including four touchdown passes to four different receivers. Washington also got three rushing touchdowns from three different players, including Browning himself.
Arizona will be plenty motivated to avoid another rout, but Washington comes into play ranked No.9 and having dominated the opposition in the season’s first three weeks though they did fail to cover the 42.5-point spread against Portland State on Saturday. On the other hand, the Wildcats have yet to beat the spread this season.
Free ATS Pick
The final score shouldn’t be as lopsided as it was a year ago. They’re playing in Arizona and the Wildcats have beaten the Huskies at home over the years.
That trend, at least, should change. Behind the home town crowd, the Wildcats will keep within shouting distance, but there’s just not enough there to expect the Wildcats to manage the win. They’ve looked mediocre at best to start off the season while the Huskies have blown through their completion. Sure, Arizona offers more of a challenge than the first three teams on Washington’s schedule, they’re still not quite up to par.
College Football Odds: Washington 33, Arizona 23
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