The 18th ranked Washington Huskies and the #8 Washington State Cougars meet in an interstate collision at the latter’s Martin Stadium on Friday 11/23/18 in this year’s Apple Cup.
The Huskies have won the last 5 installments of the Apple Cup dating back to 2013 but they enter this year’s edition as the underdogs. The Huskies have won two in a row and are coming off a 42-23 win over Oregon State last Saturday while the Cougars defeated the Arizona Wildcats also on Saturday to the tune of 69-28.
Defense has been the key to the success of the Washington Huskies this season as they have allowed just 16.6 points per game which is good for the 10th best scoring defense in college football. Washington’s run defense surrenders just a total of 125.2 rushing yards per game which is 22nd best in the nation. The defense is anchored on senior linebacker Ben Burr-Kirven who leads college football in combined tackles with 145 plus four forced fumbles, one sack and one interception.
Through 4 road games played this season, the Huskies have averaged just 22.25 points and for the season, Washington is averaging 28 points per game, 76th in the Nation. The Washington offense relies heavily on the ground game of running back Myles Gaskin who has ran for 906 yards with 7 scores this season.
The Washington State Cougars have the opportunity to win 11 games in a single season for the first time in school history. Last week, they picked up win number 10 at the expense of Arizona and th victory gave the Cougars their first 10-win season since 2003. Washington State’s only loss this season came in the form of a 36-39 defeat to USC in Week 4. The Cougars had a 38 yard field goal attempt blocked with 1:41 left on the clock.
The Cougars average 40.5 points per game which is 11th best in the nation. Senior quarterback Gardner Minshew leads the nation with 4,325 passing yards and 36 touchdowns with just 7 interceptions while completing 70.4 percent of his pass attempts. The Washington defense allows 22.6 points per game on the average, ranked 39th in the league. Meanwhile, they allow just 125.5 rushing yards per game 22nd in the nation. The Cougars also rank 11th in the nation in sacks with 34 in the season. Linebacker Jahad Woods has three sacks and four forced fumbles.
Washington is 8-2 SU in their last 10 games played but 2-6 SU in their last 8 road games. Washington State is 5-0 SU in their last 5 games played and 5-0 SU in their last 5 games at home. Head to head, the Huskies are 5-0 SU in their last 5 games against the Cougars and are 8-3 SU in their last 11 games on the road against Washington State. Washington is 2-3 SU in 5 road games this season while Washington State is 6-0 SU in their 6 home games this season.
Washington has struggled to score on the road this season and Washington State’s run defense are going to give the Huskies more offensive troubles. The Huskies are allowing 236.9 passing yards per game which is 62nd in college football. That kind of pass defense should be one which the top passing quarterback in Minshew should be able to work well against. With Minshew able to dissect the defense and the Washington run defense wreaking havoc, the Washington State Cougars should end the Huskies’ run in the Apple Cup. We’re picking the Washington State Cougars to beat the Washington Huskies on 11/23/18.
The Huskies are 0-5 ATS in their last 5 games played and are 1-7 ATS in their last 8 games on the road. The Cougars are 10-1 ATS in their last 11 games played and are 5-1 ATS in their last 6 games at home. Head to head, Washington is 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games against Washington State and are 7-2 ATS in their last 9 games on the road against the Cougars.
Although the head to head trends favor Washington, Washington State has the better form this season, especially against the spread. The Cougars are 10-1 ATS while the Huskies are 2-9 ATS this season including 0-6 ATS in their last six games. Prediction: Washington State -3
The total has gone under in 8 out of the last 11 games played by Washington and the under is 4-1 in the last 5 games played on the road. The total has gone over in 10 out of the last 14 games of Washington State and the under is 6-4 in the last 10 meetings between these two teams.
These teams have combined to score an average of 50.0 points per game in their last 10 meetings and 57.33 in their last 3 meetings. Washington State is the 11th best scoring team in the nation at 40.25 points per game and with the Huskies do not have the elite pass defense to stop Minshew. Prediction: Over 49.5 +100
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