Stanford Cardinal (1-0) ATS 0-1, O/U 0-1 vs. UCLA Bruins (0-1) ATS 0-1, O/U 1-0, Week 2 College Football, Saturday September 11, 2010 10:30 p.m. EST Rose Bowl, Pasadena, California
By Wilson, College Football Handicapper of Predictem.com
Point Spread: Stanford -6.5/University of California Los Angeles +6.5
Over/Under: OFF
The UCLA Bruins opened their season last week by losing to a tough Kansas State football program 31-22. The Bruins led 10-7 at the end of the first half but they were outscored 24-12 in the second half by the Wildcats. The boys from Pasadena will need to address, assess, and apply a new approach to stopping the running game as K State’s RB Daniel Thomas ran wild and for a ton of yards against the Bruins. Thomas carried the ball 28 times for 234 yards or roughly 8.4 yards per touch! This is not good news for UCLA fans.
Bruin QB Kevin Prince had a miserable afternoon at Bill Snyder Stadium as he only completed 9 of his 26 pass attempts or 35 percent. UCLA turned the ball over three times with one fumble and two interceptions. Their time of possession was 24.04, 11 minutes less than K State.
Meanwhile the Stanford Cardinal cruised to an easy win at home versus the Sacramento State Hornets 52-17. Stanford’s QB, Andrew Luck, threw for a career-high four TDs on 17 of 23 passing for 316 yards. Luck connected with receiver Doug Baldwin (no relation to Alec and the boys- I don’t think) as he scored two TDs and racked up 111 total receiving yards. After taking a 39-7 lead into the locker-room at halftime it is difficult to gage the full strength of the Card’s defense as they clearly overmatched and over-sized the feisty Hornets. The early back-breaker in this game was the bombarooski from Luck to Baldwin for an 81 yard TD.
Stanford is 0-1 ATS at home as they were -42 against the Hornets. The Bruins are also 0-1 ATS. Stanford is 4-2 ATS in their last 6 games as a favorite of 3.5 to 10 points, and 15-17 ATS since 1992. They are also 24-8 since 1992 when favored by the same point range as above. As a road favorite, the Cardinal are 4-8 ATS in their last 12 games.
UCLA is 3-7 ATS in their last 10 contests as 3.5-10 point underdogs. The Bruins look forward to returning home to the Rose Bowl as they will open Pac 10 play where they are 74-34 since 1992.
Will the Bruins be able to apply enough pressure on Stanford’s Andrew Luck to distract the Card’s potentially dangerous offensive attack? They better be lightning quick, and do a good job with disguising their defensive packages or Luck will read and pick the Bruins D apart. UCLA fans will be eager to get that first W at home especially after the disappointing loss to K State.
Stanford can score some serious points but their defense really hasn’t been tested yet, so the Bruins have a chance to explore and maybe exploit the Cardinal. Stanford is 10-7 ATS versus UCLA since 1992. UCLA is 12-6 SU versus Stanford and 9 of 15 contests have gone UNDER the TOTAL since 1992.
More specifically, Stanford is 5-3 ATS at the Rose Bowl while UCLA is 7-2 SU and 6 of 8 games have gone UNDER the TOTAL since 1992.
The Bruins want revenge after losing to the Cardinal last season 24-16 where Stanford covered the -4.5 and the final score was UNDER the 45 TOTAL.
Both teams will be hungry to get their first conference win out of the way. I like watching games in the Rose Bowl- it just screams college football even if it is just a big bowl in between two golf courses.
Wilson’s Pick to Cover the Spread: Stanford and Luck are too much for the Pasadena Pooh Bears. Stanford 38, UCLA 24. Luck to ya. (no pun intended)