The Utah Utes and the Baylor Bears meet Saturday in college football action from McLane Stadium. The Utes are 1-0 coming into this one following a 13-point win over Florida in the opener. As for Baylor, they played Texas State in their first game. In that one the Bears took an 11-point loss. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.

Utah Utes

The Utes went into the fourth quarter of their opener game versus Florida up 24-3. Utah didn’t score from there but ultimately cruised to a 24-11 victory. QB Bryson Barnes led the way on 159 yards and a 70-yard TD pass to Money Parks (his only catch of the game). Micah Bernard led the team in rushing with seven carries for 45 yards. 

Utah’s opener win was nice, and the team did a lot of things well. There’s still plenty to clean up, though. The Utes held Florida to just 1-of-13 on third-down tries and only 13 rushing yards. That said, Utah gave up 333 pass yards and had a fairly tepid day moving the chains with just 3-of-13 on third-down conversions. The Utes took care of the ball with zero turnovers though, and all things considered it was a pretty good effort. 

Utah Utes Team Facts

The team ranked 12th in the AP Poll has won each of its last 10 games.
The team ranked 12th in the AP Poll has covered the spread in each of its last nine games.
Utah has won the first half in three of its last four games against non-conference opponents.
Five of Utah’s last six road openers have gone UNDER the total points line.

Baylor Bears 

Over on the Bears’ side, their first game of the year was a home matchup versus Texas State. In that one Baylor took a rather disheartening defeat, giving up points in every quarter during a 42-31 result. Baylor’s Blake Shapen was pretty solid on 303 yards and two scores, both to Drake Dabney who finished with six grabs for 101 yards.

The Bears had some real issues keeping Texas State from marching down the field in their opener. Baylor gave up 441 total yards (298 passing), 6.4 yards per play and 20 first downs. The Bears came up with a couple of fumble recoveries but also allowed 4-of-4 on fourth-down conversions. 

Baylor Bears Team Facts

Baylor has won four of its last five games as an underdog against top-15 AP-ranked teams.
Baylor has covered the spread in each of its last six matches as an underdog when playing with a rest disadvantage.
Baylor has won the first half in six of its last seven games against non-conference opponents at McLane Stadium.
Baylor has won the first quarter in six of its last seven games against non-conference opponents at McLane Stadium.
Eight of Baylor’s last nine games against non-conference opponents at McLane Stadium have gone OVER the total points line.

Matchup/League Facts

Baylor ranked 12th among FBS teams for Q4 points per game last season (9.4).
Baylor ranked T12th among FBS teams for Q2 win percentage last season (.692).
Utah ranked 2nd among FBS teams for Q2 points per game last season (14.6).
Utah ranked T3rd among FBS teams for Q2 win percentage last season (.786).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’m going to stick with the Bears in this one. We should have a pretty solid matchup on our hands here, though. Utah was a mixed bag in their win over Florida with just 165 pass yards and 14 first downs. The Gators didn’t do themselves any favors with nine penalties and a futile rushing effort, but the Utes took care of business. As for Baylor, they’ve got to go back to the drawing board after a pretty rough effort against Texas State. The Bears offense was pretty good in that one (524 total yards; 416 passing), but they also gave away two turnovers and the team had nine penalties in all. The loss takes some of the luster off of this game two matchup, but it should still be a good one. I like Baylor to bounce back and play better here.