Entering week seven of the college football season, there are a couple of high-profile matchups on tap, including two featuring battles between top 25 teams. In the first highlighted showdown of the weekend, Oregon travels to Seattle to square off with Washington at Husky Stadium for a duel with the high-powered Huskies. With both squads sitting at a perfect 5-0, this should be an excellent showcase of who the team to beat is in the Pac-12’s swan song season. In the other top battle on Saturday, another Pac-12 squad, the USC Trojans, travel to South Bend for their annual game with Notre Dame. The Trojans are coming off a triple overtime win over Arizona while the Fighting Irish are looking to rebound after losing to Louisville on the road.
For this report, SBS will be going over what to look for from each team, a predicted winner in each game, and also more notes about NCAA football wagering.
Team Spotlight: Oregon Ducks
With five straight wins to kick off the year, Oregon has blasted past most squads, with only Texas Tech coming within one score earlier this season in Lubbock. The Ducks are fresh off back-to-back conference drubbings of Stanford and Colorado and won each game by a score of 42-6. In the latter contest, Oregon was able to silence the upstart Buffs with a thorough thrashing at home. Quarterback Bo Nix has been superb this year with 15 passing scores and his main target, wide receiver Troy Franklin, has seven receiving touchdowns to go along with 535 yards. Moreover, the Oregon defense has been excellent as well, with their rushing efforts allowing just over 100 yards a game at 102 per contest.
Team Spotlight: Washington Huskies
Following a week off, the Huskies return to battle after two contested conference games at Arizona (31-24) and a shootout with Cal at home, 59-32. Similar to the Ducks, Washington has their own dynamic signal-caller in Michael Penix Jr. The senior quarterback almost has 2,000 passing yards on the year (1,999) and 16 touchdowns through the air. The critical here for the Huskies potentially is that their defense gives up nearly 110 yards more per game than the Ducks (255.6 to 365 total yards on average). With that in mind, the Huskies do have the luxury of home-field advantage and have outscored opponents 158-61 at Husky Stadium this season.
Prediction: A fantastic quarterback duel, take the Huskies to eke out the win at home in what should be the game of the weekend.
Team Spotlight: USC Trojans
Another Heisman Trophy contender, the winner of last year’s Heisman, Caleb Williams is of course the focal point of the USC offense. With 22 passing scores on the year, he is perhaps still the best player in college football and the main reason why the Trojans are undefeated at 6-0. That said, while the USC offense is electric, the Trojans’ defense leaves something to be desired. After nearly losing to the Wildcats at home last weekend, USC has to shore up some issues before they take on the Irish on the road. Allowing an average of 421.3 yards per game, USC has won contests in critical moments but has been pushed to the limit as of late by Arizona and Colorado in one-score affairs.
Team Spotlight: Notre Dame Fighting Irish
While they are reeling from a loss to Louisville on the road, the Irish still have put together a strong campaign in 2023 and have been around the top 25 despite two losses. After nearly knocking off Ohio State at home earlier this year, Notre Dame is looking for its biggest win of the season against the Men of Troy at Notre Dame Stadium. Irish quarterback Sam Hartman is a fantastic player (1712 passing yards and 16 touchdowns) and continues this article’s trend of showcasing special signal-callers. However, the key difference maker in this game could be running back Audric Estime who has almost 700 yards on the ground this year (692) along with seven rushing scores.
Prediction: Another game that has the elements of a classic, take the Irish to get right at home against USC.
Once you are all squared away regarding your recent round of college football bets, make sure to also take some time to peruse all of the other excellent pages at SBS. Of course, for even more information on the topic, our college football betting sites guide is a page you should absolutely bookmark during the NCAA football season. Moreover, for those on the go, another fantastic page to check out is the best betting apps rundown which goes over all of the nuances of mobile betting. Finally, if you are uncertain about which payment options are the best for you, do not fret as the payment methods breakdown has you covered. Here you can learn more about different payment options from traditional banking routes to even using cryptocurrencies.
About the Author
As a devout aficionado of sports, Chris Boline has carved a career within the athletic realm. A skilled scribe, he boasts a decade-long portfolio that encompasses coverage of the NBA G League, the Los Angeles Chargers, football and basketball across the country. Beyond his professional pursuits, Chris is deeply invested in his community and dedicates his leisure hours to serving on boards, collaborating with community organizations, and cherishing the company of loved ones. CURRENTLY Business Development and freelance sports writing RESIDES IN Reno, NV EDUCATION University of Nevada BS and MBA EXPERTISE -Sports writing proficiency in: NFL, NBA, UFC, boxing, golf, and some motor sports -Topical news -Promotional and marketing ideas/updates -Business development Summary Chris Boline serves in a business development sales capacity as his day job. He has previously held sales/marketing positions with The Applied Companies (TAC), KTVN 2 News and the NBA G League’s Reno Bighorns, affiliate of the Sacramento Kings. He is a Reno native and is a member of various community boards including the Nevada Sagebrush Alumni Chapter, NCET and the College of Business Alumni Association (COBAA). Chris graduated from the University of Nevada in 2015 with a bachelors in management and economics and also earned his MBA from Nevada in 2023. More about Chris: Past president of the College of Business Alumni Association (COBAA) 2022-23 Two-time honoree for University of Nevada Alumni Chapter of the Year (Nevada Sagebrush Alumni Chapter, 2017 & COBAA, 2021) 2021 NCET award for Professional Services Organization of the Year with TAC Northern Nevada Human Resources Association 2020 Best Places to Work-Northern Nevada, Second Place with TAC 2016-17 Reno Bighorns MVP from the Sacramento Kings The Nevada Sagebrush editor-in-chief 2013-15 Associated Collegiate Press 2015 Four-year Non-daily Newspaper Pacemaker honoree University of Nevada, Reno College of Business Dean's List honoree (5x) from 2011-2015 Nevada Press Association award for Best Sports Column – Community in 2015 Education
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