The no. 15 Washington Huskies will try to keep things rolling this week as they venture south to face the Stanford Cardinal. Game time is set for 10:30 EST on Saturday, October 5 at Stanford Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN.
Current betting odds list the Huskies as 16-point favorites on the road. The over/under for the contest is set at 52.5 points. Be sure to check out a full list of the Week 6 college football odds.
Washington is fresh off their biggest win of the season, a 28-14 victory over USC. The Huskies have done well to bounce back from their loss to Cal the second week of the season, earning three straight wins, including lopsided victories over Hawaii and BYU. Chris Petersen’s team has flown a little below the national radar, in part because of the loss to Cal. But if the Huskies can win out and continue to post double-digit wins, they may be able to sneak into the College Football Playoff discussion. If not, they still have a schedule that sets up favorably for them to return to the Pac-12 Championship Game if they can continue to take care of business.
Meanwhile, Stanford is just hoping to get to a bowl game this season. The good news is that the Cardinal snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Oregon State last week. The bad news is that they blew a 21-0 lead and needed a last-second field goal to make it happen, meaning they failed to cover the 3.5-point spread. To make matters worse, starting quarterback K.J. Costello remains questionable after missing the Oregon State game. With Costello’s availability uncertain from week to week, Stanford needs to find a way to win four of their final seven games to avoid missing a bowl for the first time in David Shaw’s tenure. Words can’t express the kind of lift an upset of Washington would give the Cardinal if they can pull it off.
The good news for Stanford is that they’ve won five straight home games against Washington. The Huskies haven’t been victorious in Palo Alto since 2007, so history is on Stanford’s side in this game. Of course, the Huskies won last year’s meeting in Seattle 27-23.
This year could mark the end of Stanford’s home winning streak over Washington. Despite last week’s win, the Cardinal isn’t playing at the same level as past years and they could be a little out of their depth against Washington. In fairness, Stanford kept its loss to Oregon two weeks ago within a couple of scores, but they also lost to USC and UCF by substantial margins. I’ll take my chances on the Huskies pulling away from a frustrated Stanford in the second half to cover the spread.
It sounds like Costello is going to sit out this week with David Mills making his second straight start. Mills played well last week, throwing three touchdown passes and catching another on a trick play. However, he’s going to quickly learn that there’s a huge difference between the Oregon State defense and the Washington defense. In fact, facing the Huskies will probably be more difficult than when Mills started against USC earlier in the year. I don’t have high hopes for the Stanford offense in this game, especially since the rushing attack continues to underwhelm.
It’s worth pointing out that Washington is yet to concede more than 20 points in any of their five games this season. They feasted on USC’s backup quarterback last week, forcing three turnovers. That was actually the third straight game that the Washington defense created three takeaways. With Mills lacking experience, I’m not a huge fan of this matchup from Stanford’s perspective. In fairness, the Huskies have been a little vulnerable against the run this season, but I’m not sure the Cardinal will be able to take full advantage of that based on how they’ve run the ball this year.
Meanwhile, I think the Washington offense will have an opportunity to put plenty of points on the scoreboard. Running back Salvon Ahmed has rushed for over 100 yards against both of Washington’s Pac-12 opponents this year and has big-play ability. I’ve also liked what I’ve seen from quarterback Jacob Eason this year outside of the Cal loss. He didn’t have his best game against USC last week, but he still managed the game well. His arm strength also opens the door for explosive plays from the UW offense.
To be fair, the Stanford defense has been much better at home this year on the road. Two weeks ago, they limited Oregon’s potent offense to just 21 points. However, they also gave up 45 points each to USC and UCF. Last week’s fourth-quarter meltdown against Oregon State doesn’t inspire much confidence either.
I hate going against Stanford, especially as a double-digit home underdog. But this doesn’t seem to be their year. With a backup quarterback likely playing and a defense that’s been exposed at times, I like my chances with Washington covering the 16-point spread.