Arizona Wildcats at Toledo Rockets 2010 NCAAF Week 1 Odds, Preview, and Predictions: The Arizona Wildcats have been known as one of the better defensive teams in the Pac 10, but head football coach Mike Stoops feels their spread offense could be the more impressive unit. “I think our quarterbacks and running backs are the strength of this team,” coach Mike Stoops said late in camp. “I’m impressed with our execution offensively. It’s light years ahead of where it has been at this time.” Toledo also runs the spread and can score a lot of points, but defense has been a problem recently as the Rockets gave up 37.7 points per game going 5-7 last season. Vegas odds makers have the Arizona Wildcats a -16 ½ point favorite on the road against the Toledo Rockets at the Glass Bowl.
Toledo head football coach Tim Beckman has primarily been a defensive coordinator prior to becoming the Rockets head coach last season so it was a painful year to watch his defense implode. Toledo needs to improve on defense to allow its inexperienced quarterbacks time to get the speed and rhythm of the game. The offense was very productive in 2009 ranking 13th in the nation in total yards and 19th in passing yards. Odds makers at BetUS have the over/under for the total score at 60 1/2 points combined of the Arizona Wildcats and the Toledo Rockets.
For the Wildcats starting quarterback Junior Nick Foles returns and should be one of the better offensive leaders in the PAC 10. The backbone of the offense is the line where these is one junior and 6 seniors starting. “Whenever anybody asks me about the offense, I say the strength is the line,” Foles said. Running back Nic Grigsby has feasted on non-conference opponents and the Toledo defense hasn’t exactly be stellar at stopping the run. Arizona leads the series 2-0 winning the last contest in 2008 41-16. The Wildcats are looking to rebound from last season’s finale a 33-0 beat down by Nebraska in the Holiday Bowl.
Some trends to consider is that the total has gone UNDER in 6 of Arizona’s last 7 games, while the total has gone OVER in 4 of Toledo’s last 6 games at home. Toledo is 1-4 ATS in its last 5 games, but Arizona is 2-7 ATS in its last 9 games on the road. The thing to remember is most of that was the PAC 10 for the Wildcats as opposed to the MAC for the Rockets. I predict an easy win on the road for Arizona so give the points. Note: Rich Fritz is a Blog Writer on NSAwins.com and not a pro handicapper. For expert College Football Picks against the vegas spreads please visit the NSAwins.com homepage for top predictions today from the National Sports Advisors.