Utah at BYU Line

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the BYU Cougars will host the Utah Utes in a matchup between two teams who are coming off very difficult losses a week ago. BYU dominated early at Texas, but would falter in the second half and lose the game 16-17. The Utes lost 14-23 at USC in their inaugural conference game. Utah had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but instead had their kick blocked and returned for a touchdown. This will feel like a conference game for both teams, as they both played in the MWC last season. It is known as the “Holy War” and has been played every year since 1946. 12 of the last 14 meetings have been decided by a touchdown or less.

Looking at the week 3 college football odds, oddsmakers currently have BYU favored by 4-points with the total set at 46.5-points.

Utah Utes:

The Utes didn’t provide a whole lot of offense against USC. Quarterback Jordan Wynn went 23 of 46 for 238 yards. Throwing one touchdown pass to DeVonte Christopher, who finished the game with 11 catches for 136 yards. Utah only other score came from running back John White, who carried it 20 times for 56 yards.

Utah’s defense allowed USC to rack up 416 yards of total offense, but they did force three huge turnovers to keep them in the game. They gave up 264 yards and a touchdown to USC quarterback Matt Barkley and allowed the Trojans to rush for 152 yards.

So far the Cougars offense hasn’t been able to get much going, but I think they are really going to give the Utes a challenge Saturday. This will be BYU’s first home game of the season and I look for them to have a lot of success moving the ball on Utah’s defense. For Utah to win this game I think they have to make a bunch of big plays defensively.

BYU Cougars:

The Cougars opened up a 13-0 lead on the Longhorns with a six yard touchdown pass from Jake Heaps to Ross Apo. BYU’s only other score came on a 32-yard field goal from Justin Sorensen with 4:36 left in the third quarter. They would hold onto the lead until just under nine minutes in the fourth quarter.

Heaps didn’t have a great day at the office outside of his touchdown pass to Apo. He finished with just 192 yards of total offense and had two interceptions. The Cougars also struggled to run the football, as they ended the game with just 43 rushing yards on 23 attempts. A lot of the offensive struggles had to do with the Longhorns defense. Last year BYU managed just 16 points against the Utes, but Utah has just five starters back on that side of the ball. I expect the Cougars to be able to move the ball, but they have to take care of the football if they are going to win this game convincingly.

Defensively BYU held the Longhorns to just 289 yards of total offense, but once Texas removed starting quarterback Garrett Gilbert they had a much easier time moving the football. They allowed Texas to run for 166 yards and two scores. It will be interesting to see how they do against Utah’s ground game.

Betting Trends:

Utah is 17-6-1 ATS in their last 24 games as a road underdog of 3.5-10.0 and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games following a S.U. loss.

BYU is 10-3 ATS in their last 13 games after accumulating less than 275 total yards in their previous game and 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games after allowing less than 20 points in their previous game.

Be sure to check out what Steve Janus has to offer this week in college football.

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