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Coach makes Huskies dangerous for Ducks

Washington made the best coaching hire of 2013 when it pried Chris Petersen away from Boise State. At least a dozen schools, including several in the Southeastern Conference, had failed to do so during Petersen’s eight-year run on the blue turf.

Although the Huskies did not earn many style points early in the season, they are in good shape with a 5-1 record entering today’s game at Oregon. Petersen’s team dominated California in a 31-7 road win as 3½-point underdogs last week.

The Golden Bears have lost a lot of times the past two years, but they never had been held to single digits in 17 previous games for coach Sonny Dykes. Cal had scored at least 31 points in its five games before running into Washington’s star-studded defense.

It’s a legitimate defense with perhaps as many as four future first-round NFL picks. Junior linebacker Shaq Thompson is on his way to earning All-America honors. He has scored five touchdowns in six games, including three in scoop-and-score fashion. Senior defensive end Danny Shelton is fifth in the country in sacks with seven.

Sophomore quarterback Cyler Miles is coming off his best game. He hit 22 of 29 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns without an interception last week. For the season, Miles has nine touchdown passes and no interceptions. He also has three rushing scores.

Oregon bounced back nicely from its home loss to Arizona by beating UCLA 42-30 in a game that wasn’t as close as the final indicated. However, this Ducks team doesn’t appear as powerful as the squads we’ve grown accustomed to watching the past few years. Oregon has struggled to a 1-3 spread record at home and needed to score 28 unanswered points to garner its only cover, against Michigan State.

If not for quarterback Marcus Mariota’s 17-to-0 touchdown-to-interception ratio, the Ducks might have two losses. They needed Mariota to throw five touchdown passes to win 38-31 at Washington State in a game they never led by more than seven points.

This 20½-point line is too big, so let’s take a quality team with the superior coach as a monster underdog.

Four more plays for today (home team in CAPS):

■ Iowa (+5) over MARYLAND — The Hawkeyes have covered the number in six consecutive road games, and coach Kirk Ferentz’s team has won outright in eight of 10 games dating to last season. No opponent has run away from Iowa during this stretch, with its losses by 10 combined points.

The Iowa offense is brimming with confidence after erupting for 45 points in last week’s victory over Indiana. The Hawkeyes had not scored more than 31 points in any of their five previous outings. I’ll go against the Terrapins, who have a 9-14 spread record at home under coach Randy Edsall.

■ DUKE (-3) over Virginia — The Blue Devils have dominated this Atlantic Coast Conference rivalry in recent years, winning five of the past six meetings. Four of those five victories were by double-digit margins. Duke has been incredible as a home favorite the past three seasons, going 9-1-1 ATS.

■ Missouri (+6) over FLORIDA — Tigers coach Gary Pinkel’s team has thrived on the road since 2007, cashing tickets at a 23-9 ATS clip. On the flip side, Florida has limped to a 7-12 ATS mark as a home favorite during coach Will Muschamp’s four-year tenure. The Gators have lost outright in seven of their past nine SEC games. The only victories came by margins of one at Tennessee and six over Kentucky in overtime.

■ NORTHWESTERN (+7) over Nebraska — These teams have played three consecutive close games that have been decided by seven combined points. Northwestern lost at Nebraska on a Hail Mary pass on the final play of the game last year. In 2012, the Cornhuskers shook off a double-digit deficit in the fourth quarter to win 29-28.

There’s no reason to think we won’t see another tight game today. I’ll take the home underdog that’s ranked 11th in the nation in scoring defense (17.5 points per game).

Last week: 2-4 against the spread

Season: 11-19-1

Brian Edwards of VegasInsider.com and BrianEdwardsSports.com is providing college football analysis for the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

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