Stanford Cardinal at Arizona Wildcats Betting pick | 2011-09-17

NCAA Football

2011-09-17 - Stanford Cardinal at Arizona Wildcats

A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown

Stanford Cardinal @ Arizona Wildcats
United States: College Football Week 3
Saturday 17 September 2011 - Kick Off 10:45pm ET
3:45am (British Standard Time)

Preview

Both of these teams will be opening their Pac-12 schedule this week as the Stanford Cardinal (2-0) and Arizona Wildcats (1-1) meet in the desert. Stanford have serious ambitions of forcing their way into the National Championship game this season, while the Wildcats look to bounce back from a big defeat last week.

Andrew Luck is the name on everyone's lips as the projected Number 1 Draft Pick next April looks to lead the Cardinal all the way this season. He has started the season in the right way, throwing 6 TD passes and only 1 Interception as Stanford have crushed their opening 2 opponents by a combined 101-17.

It is not all about Luck in Stanford though as their rushing attack continues to gash through opponents. They outgained Duke 205-30 on the ground last week, although the Blue Devils were having to throw the ball more than they wanted to play catch up when they fell behind.

With a lot of depth in the squad, the Cardinal look set to make a real run this season, although this could be a potential banana skin in the way.

Stanford have reported a clean bill of health on the injury front this week.

Arizona faced potentially the best Offense in College Football when going down to the Oklahoma State Cowboys last Thursday. That means they have additional time to prepare for this game although there are some serious issues for them to clear up.

The Wildcats are really struggling to move the ball on the ground, and were limited to just 41 in the loss to the Cowboys. Mike Stoops, the Head Coach, summed it up best when he said '(their) inability to run the ball offensively leads to kind of a 7-on-7 game'. Things are not expected to get easier as they face a Cardinal Defense that has allowed an average of 28.5 yards on the ground, 2nd best in the nation.

The lack of a running game also puts more pressure on Nick Foles at QB who currently leads the Pac-12 for yards thrown and he has 6 TD passes with 0 Interceptions to his name. However, even Foles has admitted they need more balance if they are to become a better football team.

Arizona have a few injuries to concern them, the biggest being the absence of Juron Criner (WR)- Criner had surgery to remove an appendix last week and missed the game with Oklahoma State, while his availability for this game is doubtful. Mike Stoops has said Criner will start regardless of a lack of practice if he is given medical clearance in time.

Trace Biskin (RG) remains doubtful and has not appeared so far this season, but there was better news that Robert Golden (FS) is probable even though he had to come out of the game last week with a knee issue.

Head to Head

Stanford beat Arizona at home last season to improve to 3-1 both straight up and against the spread against the Wildcats.

Arizona won their last home game against Stanford in 2009, although they have been beaten in 3 previous home games against them.

The Cardinal are 6-2 against the spread in their last 8 meetings.

Stanford are 4-1 against the spread in their last 5 visits to Arizona.

Arizona are 1-1 against the spread this season, Stanford are 2-0.

Other Interesting Notes

Arizona are 17-8 against the spread in their last 25 games at home.

They are 5-1 against the spread in their last 6 games as the home underdog.

They are 4-1-1 against the spread in their last 6 games as the home underdog being given between 3.5 and 10 points.

The Wildcats are just 1-5 against the spread in their last 6 games following a straight up loss.

Stanford are 4-0-1 against the spread in their last 5 road games as the favourite of between 3.5 and 10 points.

They are 14-3-1 against the spread in their last 18 games when they have given up less than 20 points in their previous game.

They are 18-7-1 against the spread in their last 26 games following a win by more than 20 points.

Prediction

This is a game for Stanford to prove they are ready to give themselves a shot to win the National Championship and I think they will win as well as covering the spread on offer.

Stanford will look to make the Arizona Offense one-dimensional by shutting down the running game as they have managed to do in their 2 games this season. While the passing Defense is not the best, the Cardinal can make enough big plays to give their own team the chance to win the game.

Stanford will definitely be putting up points of their own with their Offense finding a brilliant balance so far. The question will be if Arizona can keep up? They may have a chance if Criner gets medical clearance, but that is looking increasingly unlikely this week so I will back Stanford to win by 10 or more.