College Football

College football odds Week 5: How to bet Oregon State-Utah

Published Sep. 28, 2022 5:42 p.m. ET

The Oregon State Beavers and Utah Utes will square off Saturday afternoon for a college football Week 5 matchup between Pac-12 foes.

Both teams come into this contest with 3-1 records. The Beavers' lone loss was a close, 17-14 defeat by the USC Trojans last week. Like the Beavers, the Utes' one loss was by a margin of 3 points. They fell in their season opener to Florida 29-26.

Which team survives Week 5 and adds one more W to the win column?

Here's everything you need from a betting perspective on the game between Oregon State and Utah from the point spread, moneyline, total over/under and expert pick (odds via FOX Bet).

Oregon State @ No. 12 Utah (2 p.m. ET Saturday, PAC12 Network)

Point spread: Utah -10.5 (Utah favored to win by more than 10.5 points, otherwise Oregon State covers)
Moneyline: Utah -400 favorite to win (bet $10 to win $12.50 total); Oregon State +280 underdog to win (bet $10 to win $38 total)
Total scoring over/under: 56 points scored by both teams combined

Pick via FOX Sports Analyst Geoff Schwartz:

Poor Beavers. Coach Jonathan Smith has been building this program over the last four seasons to be ready for the kind of contest they had Saturday night when the Beavs had a chance for a huge upset. They led USC late in the fourth quarter before losing 17-14. Now they travel to Utah to play the best team in the conference and are bound to have an emotional letdown in this game.

For starters, playing in Utah is brutal. The Utes have not lost a home game since early 2018 and often win their home games by double digits. They are an offense built on physicality — rushing the ball with a purpose. They are 25th in rushing success rate, even with their best running back missing parts of games.

Why is this important? Because Oregon State struggles to stop the run. The Beavers rank 110th in rushing defense. This allows offenses to have manageable third downs. Ultimately, teams convert on third down with too much ease against the Beavers' 85th-ranked third down defense. This is not ideal against a Utah offense led by quarterback Cam Rising, who is steady and mistake-free. Now, Utah’s offense will need to adjust to losing their best offensive weapon in tight end Brant Kuithe, but I do not believe that will matter too much this weekend.

On the flip side, we saw the biggest weakness on the Beavers' offense last weekend – quarterback Chance Nolan. I love the creativity in their offense as it generates big plays for their passing game via play-action pass. However, when they can’t run the ball and have third-and-long situations, Nolan struggles to move the offense. Utah has the rushing defense to bog down the Beavers' rushing attack and force Nolan to have to be the offense.

This is not ideal for the Beavers, and it feels like a game where things spin out of control quickly.

I like the Utes to cover the 10.5.

PICK: Utah (-10.5 at FOX Bet) to win by more than 10.5 points

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