I like Arizona State to blast woeful Stanford in Tempe. The Sun Devils have had a tough go of it the last several weeks in facing the Pac-10's elite in Southern Cal, Oregon and California. But ASU's solid effort in last week's 28-21 loss at USC has head coach Dirk Koetter's team feeling encouraged about themselves heading back home to face this very bad Cardinal (0-7 SU and 1-6 ATS) team. Stanford can't stop anybody and the Sun Devils will roll up a big number in this blowout win.
Ther only reason why Stanford has covered even one game in 2006 is because Notre Dame's Charlie Weiss doesn't believe in embarrassing opponents just for the sake of doing such. This is a very bad Stanford squad that has lost every game by double digits except for one. And that was against San Jose State when the double-digit chalk Cardinal lost outright! Stanford can't stop anyone and is giving up 34 points and 432 yards per game. They have been dreadful against the run in allowing better than 262 yards rushing per contest. That's bad, folks.
The Sun Devils can move the ball both on the ground (164.2 ypg) and through the air (196.7 ypg). While quarterback Rudy Carpenter hasn't produced a huge effort this year as expected, that changes today. That's because I'm looking for speedy tailback Ryan Torain (524 yards, 5.6 ypc) to break off some big gainers early. When Stanford moves up in an effort to contain Torain, Carpenter (12 TD passes) and ASU receivers will burn them. Arizona State has a talent on the offensive sides of the football and this unit is set to explode Saturday.
As bad as Stanford has been on defense this season, they've been just as bad if not worse on offense. They're averaging only 11.4 points and 246 yards per game. They can't run (71 ypg), they can't hold onto the football (16 turnovers) and they're off a game in which Aizona limited the Cardinal to a mere 52 total yards. Stanford is getting inconsistent play from its quarterbacks (32 sacks doesn't help matters) and while Arizona State won't be setting any defensive records this year, the Sun Devils will have little problem stopping this weak Stanford attack. ASU, which has forced a decent 13 turnovers this year, will force the Cardinal into miscues, that will in turn become easy Sun Devil points.
Ariziona State is 9-2 ATS as a double-digit home chalk under Koetter and this team is eager for a feel-good win as the Sun Devils haven't tasted victory since an 18-point win at Colorado more than a month ago. After facing the conference's elite in recent weeks, it will be the Sun Devils who bring out the whipping stick Saturday in this 30-plus point win over this very bad Stanford team.