Oregon State Beavers at Washington State Cougars
Martin Stadium – Pullman, Washington
Saturday, October 12, 2013, 10:30 pm Eastern, TV: ESPNU
Opening Line: pick
Current Line: Oregon State -1
Opening Total: 60 1/2
Current Total: 63
Opening Money Line: Washington State -115 / Oregon State -105
Current Money Line: Oregon State – 120 / Washington State -100

The 4-1 Oregon State Beavers travel to the 4-2 Washington State Cougars in a key Pac 12 North game. The Beavers are 2-0 in conference and the Cougars are 2-1. Washington State leads the series 48-46-3. Oregon State has won 5 of the last 6 games in the series, including the last two. The Beavers won 19-6 last year in Corvallis.

Oregon State is coached by Mike Riley. After a season opening home loss to Eastern Washington 49-46, Oregon State has won 4 straight games. The Beavers have home wins over Hawaii 33-14 and two weeks ago against Colorado 44-17. OSU also has road wins at Utah 51-48 in overtime and San Diego State 34-30. The Beavers are 2-3 ATS and the total is 4-1 this season. Oregon State was a 12 point favorite at home against Colorado and the total was 55.5.

After Oregon State and Colorado exchanged field goals in the first quarter, the Beavers scored 35 unanswered points to take a 38-3 lead. Oregon State would go on to win 44-17. The Beavers went for two points on their last touchdown despite being up 44-11 at the time. Oregon State had 540 total yards including 420 passing yards. The Buffaloes could only manage 300 total yards including 154 rushing yards with 14 first downs. The Buffaloes had 4 turnovers and the Beavers had 2.

Oregon State is outscoring teams 42-32 this season. Oregon State is #19 in scoring but #93 in points allowed.   The Beavers are averaging 488.6 yards per game including 420.6 passing and 68 rushing yards. The Beavers are second in the nation in passing yards but are #123 out of 125 teams in rushing.  On defense, Oregon State is allowing 405.6 total yards per game including 258.8 passing and 146.8 rushing yards. OSU is 94th in pass defense. The Beavers are +4 in turnovers with 9 takeaways. The Beavers average 60 penalty yards per game and opponents are averaging 63. OSU is 37/82 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 20/67. The Beavers have forced 12 sacks and allowed 6 this season. Oregon State is 28/30 scoring in the red zone with 23 touchdowns and opponents are 14/14 with 7 touchdowns. The Beavers have 2 pick sixes and have allowed one.

OSU quarterback Sean Mannion has completed 67.2% of his passes for 2,018 yards with 21 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Running back Storm Woods has 45 carries 152 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with 17 catches for 143 yards. He is listed as questionable with a concussion after missing the last two games. Terron Ward started those games and will continue to get most of the carries until Woods comes back. Ward has 49 carries for 124 yards and 2 touchdowns,along with 14 catches for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. Receiver Brandin Cooks has 52 catches, 807 yards and 9 touchdowns, along with 72 rushing yards. Richard Mullaney has 25 catches, 399 yards and 2 touchdowns. Tight end Connor Hamlett has 23 catches, 185 yards and 3 touchdowns. Two Beaver offensive linemen are listed as questionable to out Saturday.

Washington State is coached by Mike Leach. The Cougars have losses at Auburn 31-24 and at Stanford 55-17. Washington State has road wins at USC 10-7 and last week at California 44-22, along with home wins over Southern Utah 48-10 and Idaho 42-0. The Cougars are 5-1 ATS and the total is 2-3-1 this season. Washington State was a 1.5 point road favorite at Cal last week and the total was a push at 66.

Washington State took an early 14-0 lead against Cal last week. The Golden Bears then scored 12 straight to pull within 14-12. The Cougars would end up leading 21-15 at halftime. Washington State added 14 third quarter points to expand the lead to 35-15. The Golden Bears scored to pull within 35-22. The Cougars would add 3 fourth quarter field goals to secure the 44-22 win. Washington State had 570 total yards including 521 passing yards. Cal had 585 total yards including 521 passing yards. The Cougars had 7 penalties for 75 yards and one turnover, and Cal had 11 penalties for 96 yards and 5 turnovers.

Washington State is outscoring teams 31-21 this season. The Cougars are averaging 418.3 total yards per game including the nation’s 8th best passing attack at 359.7 yards per game. The rushing game is #124 out of 125 teams at 58.7 yards per game. On defense Washington State is allowing 367.3 yards per game, including 216.8 passing yards and 150.5 rushing yards per game. Despite forcing 14 turnovers this season, the Cougars are even in turnovers because they have 14 giveaways. Washington State is averaging 50 penalty yards per game and opponents are averaging 55. The Cougars are 42/101 on third and fourth down conversions and opponents are 36/105. The Cougars have forced 11 sacks and allowed 10 this season. Washington State is 16/23 scoring in the red zone with 13 touchdowns and opponents are 7/12 with 3 touchdowns. Washington State has 2 pick sixes this season and has allowed 3 defensive/special teams touchdowns.

Washington State quarterback Connor Halliday has completed 65.2% of his passes for 1,993 yards with 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He is probable with a hip injury. If Halliday can’t go it will be Austin Apodaca who gets the start at quarterback. He has thrown for 165 yards with 2 touchdowns and an interception along with 6 carries for 18 yards, all in garbage time of blowouts. Running back Teondray Caldwell has 29 carries, 147 yards and a touchdown, along with 13 catches for 54 yards. Marcus Mason has 34 carries for 144 yards and 15 catches for 184 yards and a touchdown. Jeremiah Laufasa has 21 carries, 91 yards and 5 rushing touchdowns, along with 5 catches. Receiver Gabe Marks has 41 catches, 478 yards and 4 touchdowns. Dom Wiilams has 14 catches 275 yards and 3 touchdowns, but he is questionable for undisclosed reasons. Kristoff Williams has 23 catches for 219 yards. Vince Mayle has 11 catches, 183 yards and 4 touchdowns.  Eleven Cougars have at least 10 catches this season.

Oregon State is 8-3-1 ATS against teams with winning records, 8-3 after gaining more than 450 total yards, 40-15-1 in October, 14-6-1 against teams with winning home records, 19-9-1 in road games, 2-5 after a straight up win, 0-4 after scoring 40 points, 0-5 after a cover, and after a straight up win of 20 points or more. The road team has covered the last 4 in this series. The Beavers are 10-3 ATS in the last 13 against the Cougars including 6-0 in Pullman.

Washington State is 7-1 ATS against teams with winning records,  6-1 overall, 5-1 after rushing for 100 yards or less, after gaining more than 450 total yards, and on fieldturf, 4-1 at home, after allowing more than 450 total yards, in October, and after passing for more than 280 total yards, 3-1-1 after allowing more than 280 passing yards, 13-6 against teams with winning road records, 3-11 after a straight up win of 20 points or more, and 3-12 after scoring more than 40 points. Four of the last five in this series played at Washington State have gone over the total.

This should be a passing duel between Mannion and Halliday and you might not see 10 running plays combined in this game. Both of the quarterbacks have thrown for around 2,000 yards this season.  These two teams are at the bottom in rushing yards per game. I expect a high scoring shootout between the Beavers and Cougars. The key to the game is turnovers. If Washington State can force more turnovers than they give up then the  Cougars have a great shot at winning. If they don’t it could be a long night.

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