The premier game of Week 1 of the college football season will take place in Atlanta on Saturday afternoon when the Washington Huskies face the Auburn Tigers. For Washington, the pride of the program and the PAC 12 as a whole is at stake, with some going so far as to say that the PAC 12 won’t be able to get a one-loss champion in the College Football Playoff if the Huskies don’t win this game. Meanwhile, Auburn is looking to shake off a disappointing end to the season that saw the Tigers drop games to Georgia and UCF even though they were able to knock off arch-rivals Georgia and Alabama in the regular season.
This matchup in Week 1 will take place on Saturday, September 1, 2018, at 3:30 p.m. ET at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.
College Football Odds at BookMaker.eu
Washington +1.5
Auburn -1.5
Over/Under 48.5
Odds Analysis
Auburn opened up as a 2.5-point favorite per the CFB betting odds back in May, and the line moved up to three points over the summer. However, there has been a steady amount of Washington action since that point, with the Huskies just a 1.5-point underdog on the NCAAF betting line as of Tuesday.
That line movement is miniscule compared to what’s happened with the total. The over/under for this game opened at 54 on the CFB betting line, and it has cratered since that point. The total might have some room to move downwards still considering the strength of these two defenses.
Matchup to Watch
Two of the top returning quarterbacks in the country will be squaring off in this one. Auburn boasts a Heisman Trophy dark horse in Jarrett Stidham. Stidham proved to be just the right quarterback to run Gus Malzahn’s offense last season, and he is poised to have a massive 2018 campaign. He averaged 8.5 yards per pass in 2017, and he proved himself as able to make things happen with his legs too. Stidham needed to do that considering Auburn’s offensive line struggles, and he was sacked 35 times.
Washington knows what it will get out of Jake Browning at this point. Browning has lived up to the hype after starting as a true freshman back in 2015, and he looks to become the all-time leading passer in program history. While his touchdown numbers took a major hit from 2016 to 2017, he did not make mistakes with the ball. Browning threw just five interceptions all year long, and he completed 68.5 percent of his passes. His only poor game was on the road against Arizona State, but he was hounded by an oncoming defense all throughout the game.
Player to Watch
Of course, Browning’s job will be a lot easier if Myles Gaskin can get something going on the ground. Like Browning, Gaskin has been Mr. Consistent during his time in Seattle, rushing for 1,300 yards and double-digit touchdowns in all three seasons on campus.
However, this front seven will be the toughest that Gaskin runs against all season. Last year, Auburn was great at stopping the run, and the Tigers bring back almost all of their rotation from 2017. Gaskin will likely need to break some tackles in order to get the chains moving, but he is a strong runner considering his size and has the potential to do so.
Free ATS Pick
There is still value in the under here. These are two very good defenses that will play to an NFL-type score, and the game is unlikely to go up from this point. That’s the best bet on the board in this one.
As for a side, I would take my chances with Washington. Bill Connelly’s S&P numbers have Washington as a slight favorite, and this senior-laden team knows what it takes to win.
College Football Odds: Washington 23, Auburn 17
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