Utah vs. Oregon State Best Bet: Can DJ Uiagalelei, Beavers Grab a Much Needed Home Win?
Oregon State dropped a close game in Pullman last weekend to Washington State. Can they bounce back tonight against an undefeated Utah team? Let's break it down.
Joey Ruiz - September 29, 2023, 4:05 PM EDT
7 minUtah vs. Oregon State Best Bet: Can DJ Uiagalelei, Beavers Grab a Much Needed Home Win?
Oregon State had a fantastic season last year and there was a lot of hype surrounding the Beavers coming into this season as well as they got former five-star recruit and star-studded prospect, DJ Uiagalelei in the transfer portal from Clemson.
Utah vs. Oregon State Date, Time, and Where To Watch
- Date: September 29, 2023
- Game Time: 9:00 p.m. ET
- Where to Watch: FS1
Utah vs. Oregon State Prediction
The Beavers come into this matchup with a record of 3-1 on the season as they beat San Jose State, San Diego State, and UC Davis rather easily by a combined 90 points (win margin of 30 ppg), but their bid for an undefeated season came to an end last weekend against Cam Ward and a very high-powered Washington State offense.
In that game, Wazzou was able to put up 38 total points and 528 yards of total offense on the Beavers' head. From the opening possession, that was Washington State's game to lose as they set the tone from the opening kick. I was impressed though with how Oregon State came back in the fourth quarter as they showed a lot of heart in what could have easily finished as a blowout. DJ Uiagalelei finished the game with 198 yards passing, 50% completion rate with a TD and an interception.
Not a great showing for him in a big game which was also his knock while at Clemson. He will get an early chance to rectify that performance tonight against an undefeated and 10th ranked Utah squad who looks very good in the early going of this season.
Utah is 4-0 and coming off a very impressive defensive showing against UCLA where they nearly notched a shutout and won by a score of 14-7. UTAH got a pick six very early in the game and never looked back as they had Dante Moore and that UCLA offense in hell for most of that game. While Utah comes into this game undefeated, I do have some reservations about their offense. Their ability to move the ball and put up points has been a big issue even though they have been winning. They only scored seven offensive points against UCLA, 20 against a weak Baylor squad (14 in the final two minutes), and were only able to score 24 against Florida.
Nate Johnson has been the starting quarterback for Utah while filling in for Cam Rising who is still rehabbing after an ACL injury last season. Johnson has been doing an adequate job of managing the offense and not making many mistakes but he will have to make a lot of plays with his arm or his legs tonight if they are going to get a win and I am not sure he is capable of doing it.
Johnson is still only a freshman and has been carried by his defense to this point. He was only able to complete nine of 17 passes for 117 yards against UCLA while rushing 14 times for a total of just two yards on the day. Oregon State was lit up by Cam Ward who is a very experienced and talented quarterback known for making plays through the air. Johnson does not have much experience to this point and is also not known as a QB who is going to light it up through the air so Oregon State should be able to put him in some disadvantageous spots tonight and force a few turnovers.
Utah really struggled in their lone road game to this point against Baylor and if they come out sluggish again against this Oregon State team, they are going to get buried behind the solid ground and pound game that the Beavers possess. This game also fits a very profitable system over the past few years of betting on the lower ranked team when they are betting favorites which we have tonight as the 19th ranked Beavers are 3.5/4 point favorites over the 10th ranked Utes.
I do think this line has gotten a bit stretched as it sits at Oregon State -4 so I am going to lay some juice on Oregon State ML tonight as I feel it is a bit safer in what should be a lower scoring game. With that being said, I am rolling with Oregon State ML at -170 (RISK 2U) as one of my most confident College Football Plays of the Day for tonight's action.
2u Oregon State ML -170 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
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