College Football – (20) Utah Seeks Revenge Against Oregon St. on Thursday

(20) Utah Utes  at Oregon State Beavers (+2.5, o/u 57)

Though they have only played one game so far in October, it has been a great month for No. 20 Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12). After finishing September with a one point loss at underachieving Washington State, the Utes rebounded with a 30-28 upset over No. 8 UCLA in Los Angeles.

Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham feels his squad is really hitting its stride.

Whittingham said, “When you rush for 242 yards against the talent that UCLA has in the front seven, you’ve done some good work. I’ve never understood what the word ‘signature win’ is, but this is a big win for us on the road. It says what our capabilities are if we play a complete game and play smart and play a full 60 minutes.”

Coming off a bye, Utah will need to play smart to beat Oregon State (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) in a Thursday night game at Reser Stadium. The Utes will be out for a measure of revenge, as Oregon State defeated Utah last year on a Thursday night.

The Beavers only loss of the season was a 35-10 drubbing at then-No. 18 USC. OSU has not faced any other ranked opponents this year, but will finish the season against four ranked Pac 12 opponents (including Utah).

Oregon State rebounded from its loss at USC by beating Colorado 36-31 on Oct. 4, before having a bye last week.

Leading the way for the Beavers is the rushing duo of Terron Ward and Storm Woods. Against Colorado, they ran for 171 yards and three scores, combined.

Beavers head coach Mike Riley said, “[The Colorado game l]ooked like good balanced football and that will help us as we go forward. I was really proud of how we fought. You always want better execution and all of that stuff but I think our kids battled, their kids battled and we’re glad to win.”

He added, “It feels a lot better to be 4-1 than 3-2.”

As far as action is concerned, this game has coin-flip written all over it. While there’s not necessarily a smart play, the home dog and the points is the best option.