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Oregon State Stanford Line, Spread & Football Picks

Written by Jimmy Boyd on August 27, 2008

Oregon State will travel to Stanford on Thursday, August 28th for a 9:00 PM EST matchup that will be broadcast live on ESPN2, and Jimmy Boyd is here to give you some insights so you have the inside track on the college football odds posted on this game.

Oregon State is coming off a nice 2007 season in which they went 9-4, giving them winning seasons in five of the last six years. Stanford on the other hand has not had much success in recent years, and last year’s four win season was considered a big step in the right direction after going 1-11 in 2006.

The Cardinal have dropped their last two opening games, but were 5-1 in the six years prior to that. It’s going to be a challenge for Stanford to pick up a win here against Oregon State as the Beavers have won eight of their last 11 against their conference rivals. Oddsmakers at the Pig have Oregon State pegged as three point favorites over Stanford.

Oregon State’s offense has plenty of question marks heading into this game, from the inconsistencies that Lyle Moevao showed last year at quarterback to a pair of freshman holding down the duties at running back. Moevao split time last year, but should improve his numbers this year with the return of standout receiver Sammie Stroughter. The ground game will have a big bruiser in redshirt freshman Ryan McCants and a quicker true freshman in Jacquizz Rodgers, but both are inexperienced at the this level.

We also see several question marks for Oregon State on the defensive side of the ball. Sure the Beavers had one of the best run defenses in 2007, but with four new faces on the front line and a lot of inexperience at linebacker, this is a completely different team. The secondary returns three starters from a year ago, but they were by far the weakest unit on the 2007 team. Bookmaker has the odds set with Oregon State as a three-point favorite.

Stanford quarterback Tavita Pritchard had one big start in 2007, when he beat USC as an 40+ point underdog, so there is promise if he can become more consistent. It helps when Richard Sherman is on the field as a deep threat who averaged 16.7 yards per catch a year ago. The ground attack though isn’t going to scare anyone. The team hasn’t averaged more than 3.5 ypc in six years, and so far this year none of the three contenders at tailback has emerged as a standout.

We see big improvements being made for the Cardinal on the defensive side of the ball this year, but then again when you are coming from where Stanford was last year any progress is substantial. They gave up 169 rushing yards per game, but that shouldn’t happen this year with three starting linebackers returning. The secondary was lit up a year ago, but with three starters gaining experience from the mess this year those numbers should also improve. The JustBet oddsmakes have set the Stanford line at +3.

Oddsmakers Predicted Score:

Oregon State 24
Stanford 21

For more expert college football picks take a look at what our handicappers have to offer this weekend.

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