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Well, the good news is that this year’s game does not feature either Stanford or Southern Cal.
That means that, as Bruin fans, it’s ok to root for either the Washington Huskies or the Utah Utes tonight.
When these teams met in the third game of the season, the Huskies went into Salt Lake City and beat the Utes, 21-7. The key in that game was turnovers. The Utes had three drives that ended in turnovers compared to just one for the Huskies and one of Utah’s turnovers resulted in a Washington touchdown.
One turnover was an interception thrown by Tyler Huntley deep in Huskies’ territory at the UW 11-yard line. One of the Utes’ fumbles occurred at the Washington 36-yard line. Had the Utes been able to score on even one of those drives, it might have been a different game.
So, the key to tonight’s game for both teams will be minimizing turnovers.
Prediction
Washington is a 4.5-point favorite in tonight’s game and the Over/Under for the game is 43.5, but I think the more important thing is how many points Utah scores.
That’s because the Utes have scored 30 points or more in each of the games they’ve won since they played the Huskies. Meanwhile, they’ve scored 21 points or less in each of their three losses during the regular season.
So, if Utah can find a way to score at least four touchdowns, I think the Utes will win, but Washington’s defense has been playing well and held Washington State to just 15 points last weekend in the snow in Pullman.
You know what they say, “Defense wins championships.” And, I think that’s the case here, even if it’s a close game.
Washington 24, Utah 21.