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oregon state beavers vs washington state cougars-odds-picks-predictions-ncaaf betting preview-saturday sept 23

NCAAF Odds, Picks for Washington State vs. Oregon State

Washington State vs. Oregon State Odds

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Ole Miss-Alabama, Florida State-Clemson, Notre Dame-Ohio State and Oregon-Colorado will dominate the headlines this week entering a loaded Week 4. But this is the game many college football purists will have circled.

The two castaways. The two teams the power conferences felt they were too good for. Two programs that believe they can both be special this year even if they don’t know where their home will be in 2024 and beyond.

This is Oregon State and Washington State. Two top-20 teams and a matchup I could not be more excited to watch.

With a short spread and a game that should be very competitive throughout, let’s discuss where the betting value lies in Pullman.

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It was a businesslike nonconference portion of the season for the Beavers, and now the real fun starts in league play.

In its three victories over San Jose State, UC Davis and San Diego State, Oregon State surrendered just 33 total points and forced at least one turnover in each game.

That type of defensive performance became somewhat of the norm a year ago, and now the Beavers have the offense to complement it.

That being said, quarterback DJ Uiagalelei wasn’t as sharp last week against SDSU after a stellar first two games. He will need to take better care of the ball against an opportunistic Cougar defense.

Fortunately for coach Jonathan Smith, he has an elite running back in Damien Martinez and one of the best offensive line groups in the conference. That combination should continue to take some pressure off of DJU and allow the offense to have success on standard downs.

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Jake Dickert has done a heck of a job sustaining some of the momentum that Mike Leach instilled into the Cougar program. From the media and outside world, there weren’t high expectations for Wazzu entering this season.

In its opener, Washington State thrashed a Colorado State team that many thought could win that game outright. The final score was 50-24, but it was an even bigger blowout than that. That’s the same CSU team that nearly upset Colorado and Coach Prime a week ago.

Then in Week 2, the Cougs jumped Wisconsin out of the gate, building a 24-6 lead and never really looked back.

Quarterback Cameron Ward has already surpassed 1,000 yards and is completing more than 75% of his passes. He’s the straw that stirs the drink for this offense and has an unbelievable command of what his team wants to accomplish systematically.

Defensively, Washington State has been solid, but there are still a few questions to be answered. Oregon State will be a major step up in weight class compared to the other offenses it has faced, so we will know a lot more about this group after Saturday night.

There should be a great atmosphere inside Martin Stadium, and the Cougars will need to lean on the home crowd if they want a chance to pull off the upset.

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Toggle the dropdowns below to hide or show how Oregon State and Washington State match up statistically:

Oregon State Offense vs. Washington State Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success 2 36
Line Yards 15 49
Pass Success 40 73
Havoc 2 57
Finishing Drives 9 127
Quality Drives 40 63
Washington State Offense vs. Oregon State Defense
Offense
Defense
Edge
Rush Success 46 67
Line Yards 118 3
Pass Success 12 10
Havoc 66 4
Finishing Drives 31 19
Quality Drives 10 14
Pace of Play / Other
PFF Tackling 66 54
PFF Coverage 54 40
Special Teams SP+ 102 28
Middle 8 37 26
Seconds per Play 28.8 (93) 25.6 (44)
Rush Rate 55.3% (45) 47.2% (110)
Data via CollegeFootballData.com, SP+, Pro Football Focus and SportSource Analytics.

[subheader sizedown=”false” text=”Oregon State vs Washington State” subtext=”Betting Pick & Prediction” center=”false” logo1url=”https://assets.actionnetwork.com/252389_action-logo-check.png”][/subheader]

Washington State has been a great story to start the year, and the Cougars look like a team good enough to finish in the top five of the Pac-12.

The Beavers, however, are a team that has the talent and makeup to compete for a conference title and College Football Playoff berth.

I said the same thing in August before the season kicked off, and I’m not straying from that position in this one. I just think OSU is a little bit better across the board and will find a way to get it done on the road here.

I feel comfortable backing the Beavers at three, but if the line moves beyond that, I would look to the moneyline, as I expect this to be a pretty tight battle.

Uiagalelei and a balanced Oregon State offense make a couple of key plays late to secure the road victory and move to 4-0.

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Mike McNamara

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