7:35 pm
December 18

LA Bowl: Utah State v. Oregon State

Who will WIN this matchup?

Utah State Aggies (10-3)

Oregon State Beavers (7-5)

 

Current odds:

Utah State Aggies: (+210)

Oregon State Beavers: (-260)

 

• The spread for the game is Oregon State by 6.5 points.

• Oregon State finished third in its division in the Pac-12 and sixth overall in the conference but is a seven-point favorite over Utah State when the clubs meet Saturday in the inaugural Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl at Inglewood, Calif. That doesn’t sit well with some of the Aggies (10-3), who are the champions of the Mountain West Conference and chasing the third 11-win campaign in program history.

• It’s reasonable to see why nobody figured the Aggies would be conference champions — Utah State went just 1-5 in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Coach Blake Anderson was hired away from Arkansas State last December, and a new vibe energized the program. Quarterback Logan Bonner followed Anderson from Arkansas State and has set a school record with 36 touchdown passes and has 3,560 yards, 7 short of the record set by Jordan Love in 2018. Receiver Deven Thompkins also has been superb with a school-record 1,589 receiving yards. His 96 catches are four shy of the Utah State mark set by Kevin Curtis in 2001.

• Oregon State (7-5) will be trying to slow the Aggies despite not having top defender Avery Roberts, who underwent surgery on his lower leg. The NFL-bound linebacker leads the Pac-12 with 128 tackles. The Beavers are in a bowl game for the first time since 2013 and also have posted a winning record for the first time since that season.

• Oregon State figures to give standout running back B.J. Baylor a lot of work. Baylor leads the Pac-12 with 1,259 rushing yards and is looking to become the first Beavers back to finish atop the conference since Steven Jackson (1,545) in 2003. Baylor’s yardage ranks as the 10th most on Oregon State’s single-season list. Oregon State has won all three meetings with the Aggies, the most recent encounter coming in 1998.

5/10
Confidence
StreakSmarter Pick
Oregon State Beavers
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