Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State vs Florida 12/17/22 College Football Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Oregon State Beavers and Florida Gators clash Saturday in the college football Las Vegas Bowl from Allegiant Stadium.

The Florida Gators come into the bowl game at 6-6 on the year representing the SEC. Anthony Richardson’s thrown for 2,549 yards, 17 touchdowns and 9 interceptions on 53.8% passing as well as 654 rushing yards and 9 TDs, but he like many Gators have opted out of this bowl game. Montrell Johnson Jr. has a team-high 827 rushing yards with 10 scores of his own and Trevor Etienne has 705 rushing yards with 6 touchdowns this season. Justin Shorter has 577 receiving yards while Ricky Pearsall has 596 receiving yards and Xzavier Henderson has a team-high 38 receptions for 410 receiving yards so far this season. On defense, Trey Dean III has a team-high 77 total tackles including 44 solo tackles while Florida’s defensive unit as a whole has combined for 21 sacks and 9 interceptions this season.

The Oregon State Beavers will represent the Pac-12 after an extremely solid 9-3 record this season. Ben Gulbranson has thrown for 1,290 yards, 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on 61.9% passing while Damien Martinez leads Oregon State in rushing with 970 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns. Deshaun Fenwick and Jam Griffin each have 400+ rushing yards, combining for 932 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns this season. Tre’Shaun Harrison has a team-high 52 catches for 604 yards and 4 receiving TDs while Anthony Gould has 457 receiving yards and 3 scores on 25 receptions as well this season. On defense, Omar Speights has a team-high 77 total tackles while Jaydon Grant and Ryan Cooper Jr. each have 3 interceptions as well this season.

Florida is 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games following a loss and 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games in December while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games following an ATS win. Oregon State is 6-0 ATS in their last 6 games overall and 5-1 ATS in their last 6 non-conference games while the over is 9-2 in their last 11 games on grass.

I get the case to be made for Florida here, but the Gators didn’t really impress me this season and now they have to move forward with a lot of players hitting the transfer portal and starting QB Anthony Richardson opting to sit out of the bowl game to get ready for the NFL draft. This is a big number to lay with Oregon State, but they’ve just got more pieces coming into the bowl game and more continuity while the wheels seem to be falling off of the cart for the Gators. Give me Oregon State by two scores.