Utah State at BYU Football Betting Odds & Predictions

Utah State visits Lavell Edwards Stadium in Provo, Utah this Friday night when it takes on the 20th ranked Brigham Young Cougars in a non-conference clash. College football odds makers are expecting a rout, listing BYU as a 24-point favorite.

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A win over then No. 3 ranked Oklahoma to start the season put the BYU Cougars on the fast track to being a BCS buster. They showed no letdown against Tulane in their next game, but then they fell hard 54-28 to Florida State. That loss ended the Cougars 18-game home winning streak and basically put the BCS out of reach.

With all the BCS-busting hype silenced, the Cougars got back on track with a 42-23 win over Colorado State in their conference opener last Saturday. QB Max Hall completed 19 of 29 passes for 241 yards and two scores and running back Harvey Unga added 113 yards on the ground and three more scores. While Hall has stolen many of the BYU headlines throughout his career, Unga should not go unnoticed. The 6-foot, 240-pound back has rushed for over 1,100 yards each of the last two seasons.

While both Hall and Unga had big days, there is starting to be some concern about the BYU defense which allowed Colorado State to outgain the Cougars 438-373. But that same defensive unit also came up with two big interceptions and the special teams chipped in with a blocked punt. The Cougars converted all three of those big plays into touchdowns.

BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall takes the approach of looking at points allowed rather that yards allowed. He expressed that he likes his teams chances when they give up 24 or fewer points. I’ll have to agree with him as he is 35-2 when his team gives up 24 or less points at BYU. It is worth noting that the home team is 5-0-1 against the spread in the last six meetings in this matchup. If you like the Cougars to win big Friday, bet BYU at -24 at Bookmaker.

The Aggies got on the board last week with a 53-34 blowout win over Southern Utah in which they racked up 604 yards of offense. The offensive explosion was the ninth highest total in school history and it marked the first time the Aggies broke the 600-yard marker since 2001. The Aggies will be looking to take this momentum right into Provo Saturday night.

Multi-purpose back, Robert Turbin, had a big day with 104 yards rushing, 116 yards receiving, and three touchdowns. QB Diondre Borel finished 15 of 21 for 316 yards and three scores and did not throw an interception. The Utah State offense will have to be hitting on all cylinders again to stay with the Cougars, who have won nine in a row in the series by an average of 18.8 points.

I already discussed how opportunistic BYU was last week. That is nothing new as the Cougars capitalized on three turnovers in last year’s matchup with the Aggies. BYU turned those three turnovers into 17 points so Utah State must stress ball security this week. Last season, BYU raced out to a 34-0 lead before Utah State got on the board with 14 points for a 20-point defeat. It is worth noting that the Aggies are 5-0-1 against the spread in their last six games as an underdog and 4-0-1 against the number in their last five games as an underdog of 10.5 or more points. If you think odds makers are spotting the Aggies too many, bet Utah State at +24 at Bookmaker.

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