Kickoff: Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET
Line: Arizona -10, Total: 61

No. 17 Arizona looks to stay in the Pac-12 title hunt when they host Washington on Saturday afternoon.

Washington did well over their easy non-conference schedule while going 4-0 SU (2-2 ATS) against the likes of Hawaii and Georgia St., but have really struggled in the strong Pac-12 with a 2-4 conference record (3-3 ATS). Last week they had another tough matchup as five-point underdogs to the UCLA Bruins at home and took a 44-30 loss as they played a ranked team for the third time in four games. In the defeat they allowed 476 yards of offense and failed to force a turnover in the big loss. Arizona has been very competitive in their conference but have just one big win on the year as they defeated Oregon 31-24 as huge 21.5-point underdogs on the road. Other than that they have been the favorites in each of their victories and took losses to USC while giving a point and UCLA by a score of 17-7 on the road as 6.5-point underdogs. Last week they got back on track with an 18 point victory (38-20) as 18.5-point favorites against Colorado while outscoring them 17-3 in the second half and collecting 499 yards of total offense. They also forced four turnovers in the win and have now forced multiple turnovers in five of their last six games. The home team in this matchup has won SU in each of the last six meetings as the teams have each won three contests SU and ATS. Last year it was Washington’s chance to get a big win as they defeated the Wildcats 31-13 as 8.5-point favorite at home while gaining 244 yards on the ground and holding the usually potent Arizona offense to just 119 yards of passing. Bettors should know that the Wildcats are a poor 16-33 ATS (33%) as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points since 1992 while the Huskies are just 74-104 ATS (42%) after playing a conference game in the same timeframe. Injuries will not be a factor in this one as neither team has any significant omissions from their roster.

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Washington’s offense is not like many others in the Pac-12s as they are ranked near the bottom of the nation in passing (177 YPG) while getting 188 YPG from their rushers and are scoring 30.7 PPG. QB Cyler Miles (1,404 yards, 12 TDs, 2 INTs) has been efficient with a mere two picks on 200 attempts while completing 65.5% of his passes for 7.0 YPA. He can be a dual-threat as well with three games under his belt where he ran for over 50 yards this year. HB Shaq Thompson (456 yards, 2 TDs) has averaged an amazing 7.5 YPC while going for 124 YPG over his last three performances. He has missed four games this year though and has not done quite as well near the goal line as other backs. WR Jaydon Mickens (331 yards, 2 TDs) leads the team with 39 receptions but has totaled just three for eight yards in the past three contests while WR John Ross (371 yards, 4 TDs) has averaged 21.8 yards per catch and has not caught a ball in the past two weeks. Their defense has not been all that impressive either while allowing 26.4 PPG as DL Hau’oli Kikaha (57 tackles, 16.5 sacks) has been one of the most dominant pass rushers in the nation.

The Wildcats rank in the top-50 offensively with 313.9 YPG passing (13th in FBS) and 191.3 YPG rushing while putting up 36.6 PPG (21st in nation). QB Anu Solomon (2,816 yards, 25 TDs, 5 INTs) has been a wildly impressive freshman as he has gone over 390 yards in three games this year while throwing 11 TDs to just one INT over the past four games. He is coming off a big performance in the win over Colorado as he threw four TD passes and ran for a career-high 105 yards on 13 attempts (8.1 YPC). Joining him in the backfield is fellow freshman HB Nick Wilson (763 yards, 7 TDs) who has four 100+ yard rushing performances this season while averaging 5.9 YPC. He had one such performance for the first time since September 13th last week when he went for 153 yards on 21 attempts (7.3 YPC) against the Buffaloes. WR Cayleb Jones (734 yards, 8 TDs) is another underclassman who plays a significant role in this offense and had three triple-digit receiving yard performances early in the season while averaging a mere 51.8 YPG in his last five starts. The team has been rather poor on the defensive side of things, allowing their opposition to score 26.1 PPG. LB Scooby Wright III (107 tackles, 12 sacks) is the bright spot on this side of the ball and will need to continue being a pass rushing force in order to keep opposing offenses in check.