Once upon a time, the Oregon Ducks and Arizona State Sun Devils were viewed as potential 2015 Pac-12 winners. However, 10 weeks into the season, both teams sit at 4-3 (2-2 in conference play) and are trying to make sure they become Bowl-eligible. So what can fans expect from this showdown of former powerhouses tonight?
Game Time: 10:30 p.m. EST
TV Info: ESPN
Live Stream: WatchESPN
Points Spread: 65.5, ASU -2.5
Basically, these two teams are viewed relatively evenly. Vegas has the Sun Devils as 2.5-point favorites only because they are the home team, and in college football, that advantage can go a long way.
That said, both squads have their seasons on the line, so how much do Vegas odds really matter? Not much, because both of these schools have so much at stake.
For Oregon, the biggest issue this year was replacing QB Marcus Mariota, the no. 2 pick in the 2015 NFL Draft.
Vernon Adams Jr. was recruited from Eastern Washington, but got hurt early on, disrupting his growth in the offense. Now that he's healthy, he does seem to be improving, as he and Oregon had perhaps their best win of the season a week ago, taking down the Washington Huskies 26-20.
In that game, Adams threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions. That type of performance against a pretty respectable defense that ranks 22nd in points allowed per game in the country should give Ducks fans some confidence going forward.
Conversely, ASU has had some big-time struggles on offense recently. Last week, a 34-18 loss to Utah was the first time since Todd Graham became the head coach in 2012 that his team did not score a touchdown offensively. Than again, how much can we read into that?
Utah is statistically a much better team than Washington, ASU or Oregon. To put things into perspective, the Utes defeated Oregon 62-20 a little over a month ago.
Ultimately, tonight's result comes down to who wants it more and who executes the better defense. ASU gives up about 80 yards and nine less points per game than Oregon, and that'll give them a victory in a tightly-contested match.
Prediction: ASU 33, Oregon 31
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