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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Jacob Thorpe’s Pac-12 picks

Washington football coach Chris Petersen is 2-0 as a head coach against Oregon, but his Huskies carry a 10-game losing streak against the Ducks to Autzen Stadium this week.

The rivalry has animosity instead of competitiveness and the Ducks will tease their visitors by foregoing new, flashy uniforms for one weekend in favor of old-school throwbacks to 1994 when Kenny Wheaton made “The Pick” off Damon Huard, starting the Ducks’ run of national relevance.

Oregon is expected to clobber the Huskies once again Saturday, although UW has enough talent on defense to make it interesting for a couple quarters.

Oregon State plays host to Utah tonight; all other games are on Saturday.

Utah at Oregon St., Utah by 2 1/2 : Utah’s attacking defense will keep Sean Mannion from getting into a rhythm early in the game and with a good ground game and athletic quarterbacks the Utes are well-equipped to play with a lead. Utah 28-24

UCLA at California, UCLA by 7 : UCLA needs to end the two-game losing streak with a statement win and California just doesn’t have the athletes yet to keep up with the angry Bruins. UCLA 38-24

Colorado at USC, USC by 19 1/2 : The Buffaloes have just a few players who could fit in at a USC practice, so of course the Trojans will come out flat and barely hang on for a win. USC 31-21

Washington at Oregon, UO by 21 : Husky fans will get their hopes up when Shaq Thompson scores a touchdown and Danny Shelton makes life miserable. Then the Ducks will put their foot on the gas and for another year the streak goes on. Oregon 44-22

Stanford at Arizona State, Stan. by 3 1/2 : With Kevin Hogan once again looking like a quarterback, Stanford will be able to score the two or three touchdowns it needs to win after its defense dominates. Stanford 27-17

Last week: 2-2 straight up, 2-2 against the spread.

Overall: 36-16, 21-23 against the spread.

Jacob Thorpe