Pac12 Preview: Washington State, Washington Win

Pac12 Pick of The Week:

No. 14 Washington State (6-1) at No. 24 Stanford (5-2):


This game comes down to State's strength against Stanford's weakness. The Cougars have a powerhouse, machine-gun-like passing attack that has piled up more than 300 yards in seven straight games and several times has even crossed the 400-yard mark. Cougar QB Gardner Minshew is hitting over 70% of his passes, thrown 23 TD passes and, with a month's worth of games left, has an impressive passing yardage total, 2745 yards, second highest in the country.


What kind of pass defense can Stanford present to challenge such a fearsome attack? Put is this way. Last week an obscure QB, Arizona State's Manny Wilkins, passed for 353 yards against Stanford's slow, soft secondary. Imagine the damage Minshew will do.

Even more ominous for Stanford, State has a run defense that's like a brick wall. So Stanford's cream-puff running game will look even flimsier. Their passing attack isn't strong enough to pick up the slack. So where are the Stanford points going to come from? That's their primary problem.

On paper, State should trample Stanford. But things don't always play out the way they're supposed to. State isn't used to leading the Pac12 this late in the season. Could they have a meltdown and crumble? It's possible--but not likely.

Because it's a Stanford home game they are favored by 3. Though winning a conference road game is tough, look for State to win this one fairly easily.



No.15 Washington at Cal:


Don't read too much into Cal's 49-7 rout of Oregon State last week. Remember it was Oregon State, the worst team in the conference. The difference was that the Bears had only one turnover, after averaging nearly five a game in a three-game losing streak. Also, at QB, Chase Garbers, a polished passer, replaced Brandon McIlwain, who had been responsible for most of the turnovers. McIlwain had been the starter, to take advantage of his marvelous running skills but, because of the turnovers, he had become a liability.

Cal's main plus in this one is home field advantage. But that is not enough. Washington is, by far, the superior team and should prevail. The Huskies' speedy, savvy defense should bottle up Cal's offense, which lacks a field-stretching, deep-passing game to ease the pressure on hard-running RB Patrick Laird.  Washington never blows away opponents because their offense, lead by efficient QB Jake Browning, is barely above average and usually does just enough to win.

Cal's excellent pass defense should slow down the Washington offense and keep the game competitive, Favored by 11 1/2 points, the Huskies usually play just well enough to win. They should win this one, but might not cover the spread. So if you're betting, taking Cal is the smart move.