Vegas Pac 12 Predictions for Week 3 of the College Football Season
Saturday Blitz Vegas Pac 12 Predictions Week 3
Game of the Week
No. 16 Arizona State Sun Devils at Colorado Buffaloes
Line: Arizona State by 14.5
This would be an odd game of the week to outsiders, but it is a divisional game between a team ready to show it can compete with the Pac 12 elite and a team trying to prove it has taken major strides going into this year. With Arizona State as a top 25 team and Colorado on the verge of turning the corner playing them at home, this might be a more dangerous game than people realize.
The Sun Devils are ready to compete for the Pac 12 South. Don’t concede it to UCLA or USC just yet. Last week’s 58-23 win over New Mexico highlights just how good this offense is, especially with D.J. Foster in the running game. Add the dual threat abilities of Taylor Kelly, and this is a very good team. But the defense could work on a few things, especially up front, after giving up 207 yards rushing last week. That could become a problem Saturday if the game gets close, which the Sun Devils do not want to see happen in their opening Pac 12 game. This weekend they’ll want to rely on both Kelly and Foster to put up big numbers as they are on the road against what could be a very underrated team.
Colorado has shown flashes of being great this year and at certain points after building a huge lead against Colorado State and putting up a lot of points against Massachusetts. But the Buffaloes haven’t shown a lot of depth or the ability to put it all together. A home game against Arizona State is a great chance for them to pull of an upset and prove that they are back. To do that, though they’ll have to rely on Sego Liufau to make plays at quarterback, and to allow that to happen, the Buffaloes will have to set it up with the run. Arizona State has a stronger pass defense, and the only way to loosen it up is to exploit the rush defense first. They’ll also have to create turnovers on defense, which could be possible given the mistakes the Sun Devils made last week. If Colorado can’t get those things to happen, this won’t be close.
Prediction
This is the game of the week because Colorado will shock everybody by simply making it exciting. Their offense will put up some numbers, and they’ll force a few turnovers to give Arizona State a huge scare. But the Arizona State rushing attack will be too much for the Colorado defense in the fourth quarter and will allow them to pull out a victory. Still, this will be a much more exciting game than people may be expecting.
Arizona State: 38 Colorado: 31