Week two of college football is here! Here are my week two Pac-12 picks.
Last week: Straight up: 10-1, Against Spread: 6-3
Tonight
Sacramento State (1-0) at Arizona State (1-0) 7 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: N/A
True freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels led the Sun Devils to a 30-7 win over Kent State last week. Daniels passed for 284 yards and two touchdowns. ASU punter Michael Turk might have been the player of the game – with punts of (64, 62, 65, 49, and 75 yards) for an average of 63.0 yards per punt – an ASU record. Another tune up for Herm Edwards and the Sun Devils this week.
Arizona State 42 Sacramento State 7
Saturday
Northern Illinois (1-0) at #13 Utah (1-0) 10 a.m. (Pac-12) Line: Utah -23
Utah had two interceptions returned for touchdowns in their 30-12 win over BYU in the Holy War. The Utes’ defense is for real this year but their offense still has some question marks. Utah will face a Northern Illinois team they beat last year, 17-6. California graduate transfer Ross Bowers will be the quarterback for Northern Illinois. Don’t expect Utah to show too much in this contest.
Utah 28 Northern Illinois 7
#25 Nebraska (1-0) at Colorado (1-0) 12:30 p.m. (FOX) Line: Nebraska -4.5
Colorado beat rival Colorado State 52-31 in Mel Tucker’s debut as head coach. The Buffs’ did score 52 points but gave up 505 yards and 31 points despite forcing four turnovers. Nebraska struggled in a 35-21 victory over South Alabama last week. The Cornhuskers are expected to have a really explosive offense under quarterback Adrian Martinez but they struggled last Saturday, as South Alabama out-gained Nebraska 314-276 yards. Expect Nebraska to rebound from last year’s 33-28 loss to Colorado.
Nebraska 41 Colorado 35
San Diego State (1-0) at UCLA (0-1) 1:15 P.M. (Pac-12) Line: UCLA -7
UCLA had just 218 total yards of offense in their season opening 24-14 loss at Cincinnati. The Bruins were without a few key players but something has to give on offense. San Diego State beat Weber State 6-0 last Saturday. Don’t expect a ton of points in this game but UCLA has to improve on offense at some point right?
UCLA 21 San Diego State 10
Northern Colorado (0-1) at #22 Washington State (1-0) 2 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: N/A
Washington State quarterback Anthony Gordon passed for 420 yards and five touchdowns in the Cougars 58-7 win over New Mexico State. Northern Colorado meanwhile managed just 287 yards of total offense in their 35-18 loss to San Jose State. Expect another big day for Gordon and the Cougars.
Washington State 49 Northern Colorado 14
Nevada (1-0) at #16 Oregon (0-1) 4:30 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: Oregon -23.5
Oregon will look to bounce back after a heartbreaking loss to Auburn last week. This is still a good Oregon team that was missing a few starting wide receivers last week. Nevada upset Purdue in week one. Ducks come out angry in this one.
Oregon 45 Nevada 17
California (1-0) at #14 Washington (1-0) 7:30 p.m. (FS1) Line: Washington -13.5
The Huskies will look for revenge after their 12-10 defeat at California last year. Washington was held to just 91 yards rushing in last year’s contest (a season low). But this might be a much improve offense led by Georgia transfer starting QB Jacob Eason. In UW’s 47-14 win over Eastern Washington last week, Eason passed for 349 yards and four touchdowns. Meanwhile, California struggled in their 27-13 season opening win over UC Davis. California was plagued by the turnover bug last year despite having a great defense. Last week, Cal had four turnovers in the win. Revenge is in line here for the Huskies as they put their 15-game home winning streak on the line. I’m going against many experts on this one as I actually have the Huskies as my pick of the week.
Pick of the week: Washington 27 California 10
#23 Stanford (1-0) at USC (1-0) 7:30 p.m. (ESPN) Line: USC -2.5
Both Stanford and USC will be without their starting quarterbacks. USC starting QB J.T.Daniels tore his ACL in the Trojans’ win against Fresno State. Stanford starting QB K.J. Costello is out after getting hit in the head in the Cardinal’s win over Northwestern. Davis Mills will get the start this week for Stanford. Mills completed 7-14 passes for 81 yards after taking over for Costello. Freshman Kedon Slovis will start in place for Daniels for USC. Slovis completed 6-8 passes with an interception in the Trojans’ win over Fresno State. In a game with two backup quarterbacks, I side with the Trojans. USC is at home and Stanford will be without All-American left tackle Walker Little.
USC 21 Stanford 17
Northern Arizona (1-0) at Arizona (0-1) 7:45 p.m. (Pac-12) Line: N/A
Arizona’s bye couldn’t have come at a better time coming off their stunning loss at Hawaii in week zero. Expect an angry Wildcats team to let loose in Tuscon Saturday night.
Arizona 52 Northern Arizona 14
Oregon State (0-1) at Hawaii (1-0) 9 p.m. (Facebook) Line: Hawaii -6
A late night shootout should be in store for this contest. The over/under is set at 78.5 and that might be too low. Oregon State in their season-opening 52-36 loss against Oklahoma State surrendered 52 points and 352 yards rushing. Hawaii despite giving up 539 yards to Arizona, upset the Wildcats 45-38. I expect the Beavers to ride running back Jermar Jefferson and play keep away from Hawaii.
Oregon State 41 Hawaii 35
