Oregon State Beavers (2-2) 2-2 ATS +12 at #15 Utah Utes (5-0) 2-2 ATS -12, Thursday October 2 Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,017) Salt Lake City, Utah 9:00 p.m. EST
by Wilson of Predictem.com
Thursday night the Oregon State Beavers will be in Salt Lake City attempting to keep their momentum going after they knocked off #1 USC last week. This week they face another ranked undefeated team in the Utah Utes. The Utes opened their season with a notable win over the Michigan Wolverines 25-23, and they beat UNLV 42-21, but really, those were the two toughest games out of the five wins. Oregon State will be a great test for the Utes.
Utah is averaging 38.4 points per game behind the solid play of quarterback Brian Johnson. Johnson was 18-of-22 for 194 yards and two touchdowns last week against the Weber State Wildcats.
The Utes use a well balanced attack on offense as Johnson divided his passes among 12 different targets in their win over Weber State. Utah also had 7 different players carry the pigskin for a total of 180 yards on the ground. The Utes will definitely try to spread it out again with Oregon State in the house.
The Utes are 2-2 ATS but 0-1 ATS at home. The Beavers are also 2-2 ATS but 0-2 ATS on the road. Utah, notably, is 4-0 on the over this season.
The Oregon State Beavers are slapping their tails pretty hard lately in the wake of their giant killing of USC last Thursday night. Could Thursday nights be the Beavers good luck charm? OSU had not beaten a #1 team in 41 years up to last Thursday, and for USC it was the second loss in Corvallis in three years. Ouch!
The Beavers come into Salt Lake City Thursday averaging 28.5 points per game. Their offense has struggled at times but has also shown its capabilities too. Perhaps the coming out of Beaver running back Jacquizz Rodgers who ran all over USC for 186 yards on 37 carries will be the biggest threat for the Utes. Im sure the film sessions have been extremely dissected by the Utah coaches.
Both Utah and Oregon State have allowed a fair amount of points this season with OSU giving up 27.3 points per game to Utahs 19.6. The Beavers defense did manage to hold USCs tailback Joe McKnight to only 10 yards for the entire game, after McKnight gained 105 yards in USCs win over Ohio State.
I think all games are effected by the turnover ratio, and this game will be no different. Both teams seem to take care of the ball. Oregon State did not have a turnover in USC game. Utah had only one turnover last week. This game should be basically error free then right?
Oregon State will get the chance to prove that last weeks USC win was no fluke. Utah will get the chance to prove that they are 5-0 for a reason other than playing mostly down programs. The PAC 10 vs. the MWC; who will get bragging rights?
All eyes will be on Oregon State running back Jacquizz Rodgers
as he made a name for himself last week by dodging, alluding, slipping out
of the entire USC defense. Rodgers, when asked after USC game how he managed
to gain so many yards, the guys up front did a great job, and we were able
to use the cut-back lanes, also Im a small dude, and they just couldnt
see me. Utah will need to make sure they can see Rodgers or he might just
go off for 200 yards this week!
Wilsons Pick: In most situations I’d be thinking “letdown” but if you look at the Beavers from a historical point of view, this is a team that ALWAYS starts slow and gets better as the season goes. The current line of +12 is very generous and we’re hitting it right now.