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Arizona State (4PM ET FOX) – College Football Saturday continues with PAC 12 action from the Grand Canyon State when the Arizona State Sun Devils take on the #6 Oregon Ducks at Mountain America Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.  

If you toss out one bad game, a 55-3 blowout loss against Utah in Salt Lake City, the Sun Devils have been surprisingly competitive this season.  Arizona State pulled off the big upset of UCLA last week, have a win over Washington State and managed to cover as underdogs against USC, California, Colorado and Washington.  I don’t see why Arizona State can’t do the same here, especially with Oregon in a spot where the Ducks might not be fully focused on the task at hand. Oregon has a MASSIVE game in six days with rival Oregon State and I think the emphasis here will be to “get in and get out” with the win.  I think the emphasis here for Oregon will be more on health/workload management and less on running up the score on “lowly” Arizona State.  There’s no need to “show out” for the fans since this game is in Tempe so I could absolutely see this being a “bare minimum” type spot for the Ducks.

I also think Arizona State’s ability to compete has been discounted all season and I’m shocked that’s still the case after last week.  UCLA had no quarterback but it’s still impressive that Arizona State was able to go to the Rose Bowl and leave with a double-digit win. The quarterback situation for UCLA shouldn’t discount the fact Arizona State ran a methodical offense that saw the Sun Devils convert 21 first downs and turn the ball over just one time.  Arizona State only put up 250 yards of total offense but quarterback Trenton Bourguet made the occasional play and Sun Devils running backs were averaging between 4-5 yards per carry.  Arizona State still has an absolute beast at receiver in Elijah Badger who had another monster performance against UCLA with 12 catches for 116 yards and a touchdown.  Arizona State, in my opinion, is better than your typical Power 5 “doormat” and I think there’s more than one way the Sun Devils can cover here.

Arizona State probably has no chance at another outright monster upset but I could see this playing out ugly a lot like the Washington game did a few weeks ago.  Arizona State’s only questionable effort in PAC 12 play (Utah) was more the result of a 4th string quarterback more than anything. With Bourguet under center that wouldn’t have been as lopsided and I don’t think this result will be as lopsided as the oddsmakers are suggesting either.  Play on Arizona State +24.5 (-110) for 4% (or 4 units)