Arizona Wildcats vs. Stanford Cardinal Betting Odds, Analysis, Football Pick

Stanford owns the upper hand in the recent series with Arizona, winning five of the last six meetings straight up and going 4-2 against the spread. Coming off a convincing Pac-12 road victory, the Cardinal head home to host the Wildcats Saturday night.

Point spread: This game was off the board early in the week at sportsbooks monitored by Odds Shark (line updates and matchup report).

College football pick, via Odds Shark computer: 26.9-21.8 Cardinal

Why the Arizona Wildcats can cover the spread

The Wildcats opened this season with three straight victories but fell victim to the ESPN College GameDay curse last week, losing 56-30 to UCLA. After committing two turnovers through its first three games of this season, Arizona turned it over three times in the first half Saturday, which led to three Bruins touchdowns. The Wildcats also lost quarterback Anu Solomon to a head injury in the second quarter, and while they rallied briefly early in the second half, they only traded punches from there.

By the end, though, Arizona had ground out 353 yards rushing against UCLA, as backup quarterback Jerrard Randall ran for 128 yards, including 39 on his fourth long touchdown jaunt of this season.

The Wildcats also welcomed All-American Scooby Wright back to action last week, after he missed the previous two games with a knee injury. However, the linebacker suffered a sprained foot and will be out this week.

Solomon's status for this week is uncertain, but if he can't go, Randall, while not a great passer, is dangerous. If the Wildcats can tighten up on defense and avoid the turnovers, they could keep this one interesting.

Why the Stanford Cardinal can cover the spread

After opening this season with an upset loss at Northwestern, the Cardinal have won and covered three straight games, including a 42-24 victory at Oregon State last week. Stanford only led the Beavers by four points at the half but scored the first two touchdowns of the second half, later clinching the cover as a two-touchdown favorite when Barry Sanders bolted in from 65 yards out early in the fourth quarter.

On the night, the Cardinal outrushed OSU 325 yards to 111 and won time of possession by a 35-25 margin.

Two weeks ago Stanford upset USC in Los Angeles 41-31, taking that game outright as a nine-point dog, and just before that it beat Central Florida 31-7, covering at minus-20.

The Cardinal needed a good effort from the running game last week, with quarterback Kevin Hogan nursing a sore ankle, and they got it. This week they go against an Arizona defense that just gave up almost 500 yards, including 213 on the ground, to UCLA. And Stanford loves to grind out drives.

Smart pick

Solomon's injury creates a large mystery factor for this contest. Randall can run, but throwing the ball is another story. Ultimately, the team that makes the most stops on defense will probably cover this game, and that team is more likely to be Stanford.

Betting trends

• Stanford is 5-1 straight up in its last six games against Arizona.
• The total has gone over in Arizona's last five games.
• Arizona is 7-2 against the spread in its last nine games in October.

All point spread and lines data courtesy of Odds Shark. All quotes gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted. Check out Twitter for injury and line movement updates and get the free odds tracker app.