BYU Cougars vs Washington Huskies Point Spread Picks

The Washington Huskies lost a lot of firepower from last year's team. While they put up a lot of points vs. Eastern Washington and Hawaii, they struggled vs. California where they managed just 19 points. BYU has already played Utah, USC, and Tennessee in three games. They are 2-1 despite averaging 23.7 points per game in the three contests. The Cougars play at high altitude and are 64-17 SU at home since 2006. They always play tough defense at home as in the 81 games, opponents have managed just 18.2 ppg. That is a long history of shutting teams down and Washington is better on the defensive side of the ball this year than they are offensively, allowing 18ppg. Take the UNDER.

BYU and Washington have played a combined eight games this season and all eight have gone UNDER the total. BYU allows only 17.0 points per game and Washington is even better giving up just 12.8. The Huskies beat Arizona State 27-20 and it went UNDER by six points while the Cougars defeated FCS McNeese State 30-3 and went UNDER by eight points. McNeese State was held to 207 total yards of offense and 2.6 yards per rush. BYU managed only 291 yards as it was in a letdown situation following its big win over Wisconsin. Washington held the Sun Devils to 268 yards of offense and only 104 passing yards. Jake Browning was 15-of-22 for 202 yards and three touchdowns against ASU, but the Huskies also ran 39 times for 171 yards. The Cougars have gone UNDER their last six games versus the Pac-12 and they are 22-8 UNDER their last 30 games overall. Also, BYU has stayed UNDER 10 of its last 13 road games and Washington is 7-3 UNDER its last 10 games after a win. Play this matchup to stay UNDER the posted total.

The Fight Hunger Bowl features a pair of teams that both finished the season at 8-4. Looking at the perspective of these teams, Washington truly thought they had a chance to win the PAC-12 this season. Despite an 8-4 season, it was less than hoped for with price returning at QB along with a solid defense. A bigger issue here is the fact that Coach Sarkisian has left to take the job at USC. Marques Tuiasosopo will take the reigns as the interim coach, but he has no practical game experience, as he was only the QB coach. I think the combination of a lesser Bowl, and their coach departing for a conference competitor will leave this team lacking in this game. Despite the Independent status, BYU took on a challenging schedule, and won vs. Texas, Utah State, Georgia Tech, Houston, and Boise State. They lost to Notre Dame and Wisconsin, both on the road, by 10 points each. This is a team that is big and physical, has a #25 ranked offense, and has allowed more than 27 points to just one team - and they won that game. The wrong team favored, so play on BYU.