Oregon State Beavers (-30.5) @ Washington State Cougars Pick: The only thing WSU has going for them is the terrible weather Pullman is almost guaranteed to have this time of year. Then again, that only helps them because scoring could be down. But if it’s down any more for them, they probably don’t even put a light up in their section of the scoreboard. A shut out by a mediocre Beavers defense? It’s very possible.

Oregon State, on the other hand, is guaranteed at least 5 touchdowns. They’ve done so in 4 of their last 5 against the Cougars, they’ve put up at least 30 against solid Pacific Ten defenses like Cal, USC, Stanford, and Arizona. They have two of the most dynamic players in the conference, and they just happen to be brothers. They have out-rushed 8 of the 10 opponents they’ve played this year, and they are just freaking good.

Washington State has scored 7 points or fewer in 4 of their last 7 games. They have allowed at least 40 points in 5 of their last 6. Against a team with similar skills in the run game (Oregon) the Cougars lost 52-6. Now, Oregon State’s defense might not be as good as Oregon’s, but they can really throw the ball, and the consistent accuracy of Sean Canfield does not bode well for the Cougars’ chances of covering Saturday.

The only “good” team WSU has lost by fewer than 30 points too is Stanford, and that was way back in Week 1 when the Cardinal hadn’t figured it all out yet. When you add all these things to the ever-growing injured list the Cougars are sporting, and the fact that their starting QB has a good chance of missing Saturday’s tilt with the Beavers, 30 points just doesn’t seem like too big of a spread. I’ll take the BEAVE!