Odds-makers are stubborn people, and for some reason nobody can talk them out of it.
As the ASU Sun Devils prepare to visit Oregon State this Saturday, the visitors are at 5-5 and trading punches with the best in the Pac-12. Arizona State lost to Stanford by 10 points, then humbled Washington 13-7 in one of the program’s all-time shining hours of defensive play. ASU has gone 2-2 in 4 tough conference tests since then.
The Beavers, on the other hand, are mired in an 8-game losing streak, going through familiar interim-HC doldrums. There’s a spark here and a spark there, but nobody in charge who can help put it all together. A near-upset of Stanford brightened the skies temporarily, but the squad soon faded, almost non-competitive in the most recent 2 weeks of west coast football.
Yet the bookies are giving this contest a simple touchdown point spread.
Who: Arizona State Sun Devils at Oregon State Beavers
When: Saturday, November 18th, 3 PM EST
Where: Reser Stadium, Corvallis, OR
Lines: ASU (-7) vs Oregon State (+7) / O/U Total: (59)
Are sports books seeing something alive in the Beavers? Seems unlikely. Oregon State took a few positives away from last weekend’s 21-point loss to Arizona, as QB Darrel Garretson and the offense made a brief rally in the 2nd half. But the score was Arizona 28, Oregon State 0 at halftime. It wasn’t exactly a competitive 4 quarters.
Perhaps there’s trouble brewing with ASU? The Sun Devils will be super-motivated to win for a 6th time. The offense has been reliable against all mid and low-level Pac-12 teams, Manny Wilkins and Demario Richard making an excellent 1-2 threat in the passing and running game respectively.
Sure, they lost 44-37 on the road against UCLA last week. But are there any football teams based in Los Angeles that Oregon State could score 37 points on right now?
Think hard. We might need to look into the D2 ranks.
There is no evidence that the Beavers can hang with the Sun Devils for more than 1 and 1/2 quarters on Saturday. Bookies are being led by the trends, showing Oregon State going 7-3 in the last 10 meetings with a winning record against the spread.
That’s the sort of thing to ignore when there’s a 7-point spread on a good team vs a doormat.
Take the Sun Devils to cover.