Thursday night college football and the Utah Utes will travel to Reser Stadium in Corvallis, Oregon to take on the Oregon State Beavers. The game has a start time of 10:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on Fox Sports 1. Current Vegas odds have the Utes listed as 3 point favorites, while the total is set at 53.
Analysis: The Utah Utes have been a pleasant surprise in the Pac-12 this year, as they come into the game at 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference, with that one Pac-12 win being on the road vs UCLA. The Utes are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 Pac-12 games and 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games in this series. Travis Wilson has been solid under center for the Utes, throwing for 788 with 7 TDs and no INTs, while Devontae Booker leads the ground attack with 513 yards and 4 TDs so far this year. The Utes are a decent offensive team, as they come in ranked 64th overall, 82nd in passing 35th in rushing and 19th In scoring (39.6 ppg). The defense has been decent as well, ranking 54th overall, 101st vs the pass, 22nd vs the run and 40th in points allowed (21.4 ppg).
The Oregon State Beavers also come in to this game at 4-1, which includes a perfect 2-0 record at home. The Beavers have played well in October, going 43-16-1 ATS in their last 60 games during this month, but they have also gone just 3-7 ATS in their last 10 games at home. QB Sean Mannion was to have a huge senior year, but that hasn’t really panned out yet. He has thrown for 1304 yards, but with just 5 TDs and 4 INTs on the year. He leads an offense that has struggled all year as they come in ranked 82nd in total yards, 48th in passing, 105th in rushing and 81st in scoring (28.2 ppg). The defense has not struggled as they rank 28th in yards allowed, 23rd vs the pass, 42nd vs the run and 54th in points allowed (23.4 ppg)
Pick: Going to look at the Under in this game. The Oregon State offense has not been as explosive as in years past and I see them struggling vs a solid Utah defense that has allowed just 21.4 ppg on the year, including just 19 ppg on the road. The Beavers have played 2 home games this year and scored just 28 points vs San Diego State and 29 points vs FCS foe Presbyterian. There has been something wrong with this offense this year. The Utes have had a week off from their upset of UCLA and overall this is not an explosive offense. The have averaged 39.6 ppg this year, but most of that is the 115 points they scored in their first 2 games of the year vs Fresno State and Idaho. Neither have an FBS type defense. Oregon State has allowed just 23.4 ppg on the year, including just 10.5 ppg at home. This has the feel of a grind it out defensive battle. Key Trends: The Under is 7-1 in the Utes last 8 games vs a team wth a winning record, while the Under is 5-1 in the Beavers' last 6 games off a Bye week.
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