LA Bowl: Oregon State vs Utah State 12/18/21 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Oregon State Beavers and Utah State Aggies clash Saturday afternoon in the college football Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl from SoFi Stadium in Inglewood.

The Utah State Aggies come into this one as the rep from the Mountain West after finishing with a 9-3 mark this season. Logan Bonner has thrown for 3,560 yards, 36 touchdowns and 11 interceptions on 61.2% passing while Calvin Tyler Jr. and Elelyon Noa have a combined 1,339. rushing yards and 10 TDs this season. Deven Thompkins leads Utah State with 1,589 receiving yards on 96 catches with 9 touchdowns while Brandon Bowling and Derek Wright each have 700+ receiving yards and a combined 20 TDs this season. On defense, Justin Rice leads the Aggies with 115 total tackles and 3 interceptions while Shaq Bond and Ajani Carter each have 3 interceptions as well and Nick Heninger has 5 sacks.

The Oregon State Beavers Chance Nolan has thrown for 2,414 yards, 19 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on 63.5% passing while B.J. Baylor leads the Beavers in rushing with 1,259 yards and 11 TDs and Deshaun Fenwick has 380 rushing yards and 4 scores as well this season. Trevon Bradford leads Oregon State’s receivers with 40 grabs for 606 yards and 5 scores while four other Beavers have 200+ receiving yards and another four have at least 100 receiving yards this season. On defense, Avery Roberts leads the Beavers with 123 total tackles while Andrzej Hughes-Murray has a team-high 4 sacks and Omar Speights has 78 total tackles with a pair of interceptions as well this season.

Utah State is 6-1 ATS in their last 7 games overall and 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games as an underdog while the under is 7-1 in their last 8 bowl games. Oregon State is 5-2 ATS in their last 7 neutral site games and 4-1 ATS in their last 5 non-conference games while the under is 4-1 in their last 5 non-conference games.

I get the case that could be made either way here as both teams have had their ups and downs this season. However, both teams have shown some serious offensive chops as of late and are more than capable of hanging points on the board in this one. I think this could be a 42-35 type of game, so give me the over.