Arizona State Sundevils Vs Oregon State Beavers

Arizona St Sun Devils at Oregon St Beavers, Reser Stadium, Corvallis, OR
Saturday, October 2, 2010, 6:30 pm Eastern, TV: Fox Sports Arizona, Northwest
Opening Line: Oregon St -5
Current Line: Oregon St -3 1/2
Opening Total: 55 1/2
Current Total: 54
Money Line: OSU -165 / ASU +145

jacquizz-rodgers-oregon-state-football-822 — The Beavers are a 3.5 point home favorite over Arizona State today

These two teams lost games to top 5 ranked opponents last week. Arizona St lost to Oregon 42-31 in Tempe, and Oregon St lost at Boise St 37-24. They both need a win to avoid falling behind in the competitive Pac-10 standings. Arizona St is 2-2 and Oregon St is 1-2. The Beavers have had some success against the pointspread since 1992 against conference opponents (84-58) and on artificial turf (79-55.) You can compare lines on this game and all others on our college football spreads page of the website.

Dennis Erickson’s Sun Devils have lost two games in a row that they had a chance to win. they lost at Wisconsin 2 weeks ago on a blocked extra point 20-19 and last week had a 10 point lead on Oregon late in the first half. The Sun Devils were up 24-14 with two minutes to go until halftime. Oregon’s quick strike offense scored 2 touchdowns before the break, and added two more touchdowns in the third. Oregon held on for the 11 point victory. Arizona St has the 5th most potent passing attack in the nation, behind Steven Threet, who is throwing for more than 325 yards a game. He has 8 touchdowns but also has thrown 7 interceptions. Turnovers are a problem for the Sun Devils as they have 10 already in 4 games. The Sun Devils also commit more than 10 penalties a game and have allowed 8 sacks this season. That can’t happen if the Sun Devils hope to compete with the elite teams in the Pac-10 such as Stanford, Arizona, Oregon, or USC. Threet does spread the ball around, as 4 Sun Devils have at least 10 catches. The Sun Devils average over 160 rushing per game led by Deantre Lewis and Cameron Marshall. ASU isn’t terrible on defense, as they give up just over 325 yards a game. They even did a relatively good job of slowing down the high powered Oregon attack, allowing only 405 yards, and 28 points. The Oregon defense scored 14 points off a fumble recovery and an interception.

Oregon St has been outgained this season 1375 yards to 811 in three games. They have played two great defensive teams in TCU and Boise St, and even Louisville is not horrible on defense. The Beavers do need to be concerned about their offense after three games as they rank 101st in both passing and rushing in the nation. They are only scoring 25 points a game. It is puzzling because the Beavers have plenty of talent on offense led by quarterback Ryan Katz and the Rodgers brothers (James and Jacquizz.) The Beavers have yet to turn the ball over. Katz has thrown 5 touchdown passes but only has 461 yards in three games. Katz has been sacked 8 times. Jacquizz Rodgers has rushed 60 times for 253 yards and 4 touchdowns. His brother James has 9 catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. The Beavers are giving up almost 450 yards a game. They only have two sacks, and have forced 5 turnovers. The Beavers are vulnerable against the run giving up 200 yards a game.

Both of teams are flawed and they need to fix those flaws before they take on stronger competition. These teams might compete for a bowl bid, but they are not on the level of the elite teams in the Pac-10.