Utah vs Colorado Odds and Picks
- The 4-0 Colorado Buffaloes are slight 1.5-point home favorites over the 1-2 Utah Utes in a Week 15 matchup slated for Saturday, December 12th, at 12:00 PM EST
- Colorado is coming off a 24-13 road victory over Arizona while Utah picked up a 30-24 victory at home against Oregon State, its first win in a coronavirus-shortened season
- Find the odds, a breakdown of the matchup, and a pick for the game in the article below
The undefeated Colorado Buffaloes host the Utah Utes in a Pac-12 mountain rivalry matchup slated for Saturday, Dec. 12th at Noon EST.
The Buffs are 1.5-point home favorites at Folsom Field in Boulder for this Pac-12 South contest as they try to keep pace with USC for the division’s spot in the conference title game.
CU handed Ariona its fourth loss to start the 2020 season (and 11th straight overall) thanks in large part to sophomore running back Jarek Broussard’s monster night. The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder finished with a career-high 301 yards rushing, completely gashing the Wildcats.
Meanwhile, the Utes got a huge outing from its young tailback against the Beavers. Ty Jordan finished with a career-high 167 yards on the ground and a touchdown to help Utah close out its first win of the season. Now, Utah enters its game against Colorado as slight underdogs Friday.
Utah vs Colorado Week 15 Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Point Spread | Over/Under Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utah Utes | +102 | +1.5 (-108) | Over 50.5 (-115) |
| Colorado Buffaloes | -124 | -1.5 (-112) | Under 50.5 (-105) |
Odds taken Dec. 7 at FanDuel
This Week … Paydirt?
Broussard ran roughshod over the erstwhile Desert Swarm defense in Tucson but, strangely, did not score a touchdown.
The sophomore looked fantastic in Week 14 after missing all of last season with a serious knee injury. One of the few reminders anything ever happened to his leg is a brace he still wears, which Colorado coach Karl Dorrell joked was slowing him down.
“He sheds that knee brace and he might have three touchdowns,” Dorrell said following the incredible performance.
Broussard reeled off runs of 75, 72 and 59 yards – but never reached the end zone – as the Buffaloes piled up 407 yards on the ground.
Scoring a touchdown is all the motivation Broussard needs for a repeat performance against Utah. If he has any semblance of the same outing Friday at Folsom, the Utes are in trouble.
Keeping Pace
The Buffs have the same overall record as No. 20 USC at 4-0, but are looking up at the Trojans in the Pac-12 South standings. That’s because CU is only 3-0 in conference play after the program had to schedule San Diego State from the Mountain West when the Trojans had to cancel their scheduled matchup with the Buffaloes on Nov. 28 due to COVID issues.
Ok, new idea. Since the Pac-12 isn’t making the Playoff regardless, if Colorado and USC both win this weekend.
Trojans-Buffs play-in game on Dec. 18. Title game pushed back a week.
— Stewart Mandel (@slmandel) December 7, 2020
Colorado also had to cancel a game between Arizona State earlier in the season. On both occasions, it was the opponent that had coronavirus complications.
However, the Pac-12 has already said it won’t adjust protocol to allow a potentially unbeaten Colorado into championship game ahead of 1- or-2-loss North team if USC wins out. So, CU has to keep on winning – and hope USC stumbles – to have a shot at reaching the title game for the second time in program history (and first since 2016).
Momentum Builder?
Utah’s home win was the first time Kyle Whittingham’s group had tasted victory since Nov. 30, 2019, when the Utes beat (guess who?) Colorado 45-15.
After surrendering nine turnovers in its first two games, Utah (1-2) had zero turnovers, scored in the second half for the first time during this campaign and dominated defensively much of the night. One troubling note was nearly squandering a 30-10 lead to the plucky Beavs. But a definite bright spot was the play of Jordan.
Ty Jordan meeting the media this morning after getting Pac-12 Offensive Freshman of the Week: "It allows me to see I can have some success at this level, but it makes me want to work harder.
— Josh Newman (@Joshua_Newman) December 8, 2020
Whittingham said the freshman was at the top of his workload in Week 14, when he had 27 carries and a pair of catches for 22 yards. The head coach told members of the media Tuesday Jordan’s sweet spot is somewhere between 20-25 touches per game.
Another breakout performer for the Utes was Britain Covey. The wide receiver scored on a punt return and also hauled in four grabs for 54 yards and a score to go along with a pair of runs for seven yards.
“It felt great. A ‘W’ is a ‘W,’” Covey said after the game. “This is a young team. There are a lot of things to learn. This season, you’ve got to find the positives in it. We’re so happy to get a win. We’re sick of losing.”
If the Utes can carry that momentum into Boulder, this could be a close one. But with Colorado and Broussard highly motivated, I think the home team takes this one.
The pick: Colorado -1.5 (-112)
Blair Johnson is a veteran journalist and seasoned sports content creator. He has been writing and producing content as long as he can remember, with such familiar names as CNN, NFL Media and Yahoo. Blair currently lives and works in the greater Los Angeles area.
