Arizona vs. Colorado point spread: Picking Wildcats vs. Buffaloes

Week 11 of the college football season will bring a matchup of two Pac-12 teams whose season trajectory is going in entirely different directions. On Saturday, head coach Deion Sanders and the 4-5 Colorado Buffaloes will host Jedd Fisch‘s red-hot Arizona Wildcats.

Ahead of this Pac-12 showdown, On3’s very own Andy Staples and his guest on Monday, The Athletic’s Max Olson, shared their thoughts on the contest, both team’s momentum heading into the game, and whether or not Arizona can cover the spread over Colorado which currently sits at -10.5 for the Wildcats.

“Coach Prime changed offensive coordinators last week, and through three quarters they gained 76 yards. Arizona is coming in, and the Wildcats now have won three in a row. They look awesome — like literally the hottest team in the country,” said Staples.

After struggles on offense following Colorado’s two losses, prior to coming up short against Oregon State, 26-19, in Week 10, Sanders shifted to play-calling responsibilities from his offensive coordinator, Sean Lewis, to one of his analysts, turned assistant coach in former NFL head coach Pat Shurmur. That transition did not do much for Colorado’s offense as they continued to struggle against the Oregon State defense, finishing the game with -7 rushing yards.

Arizona, on the other hand, are winners of their last three games, which have all been against top-25 ranked Pac-12 opponents. For the Wildcats, after coming up short against elite programs such as Washington and USC earlier in the season, they have figured out how to put it all together and enter Saturday’s contest 6-3.

“I mean, like, literally, they look like they could beat anyone in the Pac. They are finally playing better defense there. They’ve got a dude in Noah Fifita, and you already knew they had the wideouts to really be able to move the ball in people. But finally, (they’re) playing complete football. I love what they’ve done in year three under Jedd Fisch; (they) are already bowl-eligible.”

“This is one of those games, Andy, that when everyone was (saying), let’s print out that Colorado schedule and circle the wins, and here’s how they get to a bowl game; this was one of the ones circled. Like well, they’ll definitely win this one. And now, I don’t know,” said Olson.

Staples shared a few final thoughts, including continued criticism of Colorado’s offense. According to the college football expert, when it all boils down, the Buffaloes are only good at one thing, and that one thing is not always going to be good enough to pick up the win.

“I don’t feel good about the Buffaloes here. Is it still going to be Pat Shurmur? Do they go back to Sean Lewis? Here’s the deal: they keep saying well, we gotta establish the run, but you can’t block. The one thing you can do is operate fast. Snap the ball to your good, really good quarterback, Shedeur Sanders, and have him throw it very quickly. That is the only thing you can do. It’s not enough to win most games.

“I’m interested to see where they go from here ’cause I think Jedd Fisch is just doing a remarkable job. I will take them to cover here.”

In the end, both Staples and Olson see Arizona and Fisch picking up win number seven on the season and continuing to stay red hot late in the year.