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The Oregon State Beavers will be trying to extend their winning streak to three games when they take on the Utah Utes Saturday at 10:30 p.m. ET in Salt Lake City, UT.
Oregon State (2-2) is coming off of an impressive 41-38 upset win over their rivals, the Oregon Ducks last week. The Beavers did a good job on both sides of the ball, starting with the offense. Running back Jermar Jefferson had a season-high 226 on 29 carries and two touchdowns. The junior running back also broke his career-high of 254, which happened in 2018 against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
This season, Jefferson already has 675 rushing and seven touchdowns. The 5-foot-10 running back is a home-run hitter every time he touches the football. He’ll have a tough time trying to duplicate this performance as the Utes’ defense is only allowing 90.5 rushing yards per game this season. Defensively, Oregon State forced Ducks quarterback Tyler Shough into two interceptions, despite him throwing for two touchdowns. The Beavers currently lead the Pac-12 in interceptions with five.
As for the Utes, they lost last week to the Washington Huskies 24-21, after having a 21-0 lead at the half. Utah gave the game away thanks to turnovers, and Washington tight end Cade Otton scored the game-winning touchdown with less than a minute left. Otton finished the contest with eight receptions for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
Offensively for the Utes quarterback Jake Bentley did not play great, which does not bode against an opportunistic Oregon State defense. Bentley completed 16-of-23 passes for 144 yards, a touchdown, two interceptions, and a fumble. But where the Utes can win this game or keep it close is on the ground. Last week running back Ty Jordan had 97 rushing yards on 10 carries. This week he’s facing an Oregon State defense that is allowing 200.8 yards per game.
Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming
You can watch Oregon State vs. Utah on Saturday, December 5th at 10:30 p.m. ET on ESPN, or you can stream it via the ESPN app with a cable or streaming service login.
Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends
Point spread: Oregon State vs. Utah (-11)
Point Total: 51
Money line: Oregon State (+320) vs. Utah (-420)
- Dating back to last season, Oregon State is 6-1 against the spread and the point total went over in five of its last seven games.
- Surprisingly, the Beavs have a record of 2-4 straight up, going back to the 2019 season.
- Since the 2019 season, Utah has a record of 9-3 against the spread and the point total went under in eight of its 12 last games.
- But just like Oregon State, the Utes are not a great ML pick with a record of 1-4 straight in its last five games.
Betting splits
Oregon State: (51% of handle, 66% percent of bets)
Utah: (49% of handle, 34% percent of bets)
The Best Bet
Oregon State is coming into this weekend’s game with an opportunistic defense and tremendous running back in Jermar Jefferson, which spells to me an upset happening in Salt Lake City on Saturday night. While the Beavers’ QB play hasn’t been great, Utes quarterback Jake Bentley hasn’t looked special in Utah’s only two games this season. If Oregon State can create some turnovers and get their running game going, they will be 3-2 by the end of the night.
Pick: Oregon State (+11)
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