College Football Bowl season is upon us and the top US friendly sportsbooks and other online sports betting sites are preparing their in-depth analysis and picks for the upcoming games. Today we take a look into the Las Vegas Bowl, where the Utah Utes will take on the BYU Cougars face off at Sam Boyd stadium the 19th of December in a match up that will have some key facts that could determine the outcome of this game. Currently the line for this game holds the Utes as -3 favorites.
The BYU Cougars will come into the Las Vegas Bowl with the mission of winning their fifth bowl win since the 2009 season. Lead by a great quarterback in freshman Tanner Mangum, they are hoping for him to continue his roll of stellar performances he has had this season. He has an overall completion of 62.1%, and has passed for 3062 yards. Overall have in his arm their biggest offensive weapon. The Cougar’s receivers have also been having a decent year; Mangum’s primary targets have been Mitch Matthews and Devon Blackmon. If BYU is allowed to establish a good passing rhythm they could very well take an early lead.
The Utah Utes are the overall favorite by all US friendly sportsbooks, product of a great season. They have the capability of producing a double-digit wins this season, a feat that they have not accomplished since the 2010 season. Offensively they have the tools that certainly have made them the top sportsbooks favorites for this game. However, QB Travis Wilson, is not their strongest point, and many doubt that he would be able to lead this team to a win. He has a record of completing 62.4 percent of his passes for 2,024 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His recent performances have not been as great, compared to BYU’s QB. The Utes offense depends heavily on the running game.
Perhaps the key fact to help make a pick on this game is to consider that both teams have had different seasons altogether, while Utah has been very lucky and managed to earn a decent record, BYU has had to face arguably tougher teams. The Cougars, even in defeat, demonstrated to be a tough football team on both sides of the football. The Utes are the US Friendly Sportsbooks favorites for this game but even the line hints that this will be a very close game. We don’t think that the Utes will be able to match BYU’s offensive power. They might be able to produce some close competition but ultimately they will not be able to keep up. We see the BYU Cougars pulling the upset and winning the game by at least a touchdown.
