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It’s rather nice to kick back and not let a bead of sweat break the 27 or so layers of skin on our bodies.
The Clemson Tigers and Syracuse Orange dueling in a full-out first-half barn-burner resulted in an easy win, as the whole "Dabo Swinney as a double-digit road favorite" ‘over’ trend struck gold once more.
From an east coast clash to the Wild Wild West, the next lock of the week takes place in Pullman, Washington.
Lock of the Week Record: 7-3
Colorado at Washington State (-15.5)
A slew of factors are relevant as to why I’m particularly high on the Washington State Cougars on Saturday.
Upon watching the Southern California-Colorado game in its entirety, I noticed a few trinkets. First, it should be noted that freshman Cade Apsay will start at quarterback, as the regular domineer in Sefo Liufau suffered a foot injury last weekend, placing him on IR the rest of the season.
Apsay made a fine appearance in relief, but a lot of the productivity stemmed from his receivers, Shay Fields and Nelson Spruce, helping him out, not to mention Spruce’s punt return late set his freshman quarterback at the two-yard line.
Aside from that, Southern Cal mixed up some zany blitzes and pressured Aspay in the second half, which took a toll on the game plan as a whole.
If there is one improved defensive team that doesn’t receive credit in the Pac-12, it’s Mike Leach and Washington State. The defensive front has flourished, and Pullman hasn’t been the easiest place to play for some of the prototypical powerhouses.
The Cougars held Arizona State and quarterback Mike Bercovici to 24 points, while Stanford needed 27 second-half points to overcome Wazzou in Week 9.
The Cougars pulled off a star-studded upset at UCLA last weekend, and I expect the momentum to fully hover around the home team on Saturday. A night game in Pullman versus a freshman quarterback spells trouble for Colorado, and Washington State’s Luke Falk still leads the No. 1 passing attack in America.
Pick: Washington State Cougars -15.5