NCAAF Betting – Sun Devils Look To Threaten USC

  NCAA football odds - Arizona State Sun Devils

• Is Arizona State good enough to give USC a challenge for the Pac 10?
• Will the shaky offensive line protect Rudy Carpenter long enough?
• Is the schedule too difficult for Arizona State to be a serious BCS contender?

In Dennis Erickson's first year as head coach in Arizona State, the Sun Devils were a favorite of the offshore sportsbook community. They finished the season 10-2 and won a share of the Pac 10 title with USC.

But the schedule is significantly tougher this year and that will likely keep them short of 10 wins, a Pac 10 title and the BCS.

One four-game stretch this year includes a home contest versus Georgia, back-to-back road trips at USC and Oregon, then another home game against California. On top of that, the Sun Devils will also have to play at Oregon State, at Washington and at Arizona.

The Sun Devils do have some nice pieces. Senior quarterback Rudy Carpenter is going to finish among the best quarterbacks in school history. With Chris McGaha, Michael Jones and Kyle Williams, there's plenty of targets. The backfield is stocked with Keegan Herring and Dmitri Nance.

But what figures to uproot all that talent is a porous offensive line.

Only Syracuse and Notre Dame allowed more sacks than Arizona State – think about that for a minute. Then factor in that both starting tackles and the starting center are now gone. Ouch. As productive as the offense was, they still lost nearly 500 yards on negative plays and sacks, and online betting sharps know that might get worse this year.

The defense isn't as good as the offense but it has some nice parts. Free safety Troy Nolan is a good player and Omar Bolden looks like a potential future All-American to be. But the linebacking corps is just so-so and the the defensive line is a weakness. Particularly the tackle position, which could pave the way to a lot of opposing rushing yards.

The worst part about this defense is that they couldn't handle the top dogs. Between Oregon State, Oregon, Texas and USC, the Sun Devils gave up an average of 41 points per game. With a stiffer schedule, this defense could get further exposed.

Matt Jeremy's Pick: Arizona State under 8.5 wins

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