BYU Cougars at Utah State Aggies
Friday, 10/1/10, 8:00 PM EDT, TV: ESPN
Opening Point Spread: BYU -6.5
Current Betting Line: BYU -4
Opening Total: 50
Current Total: 51.5
Current Moneyline: BYU -190/Utah State +160
BYU is looking to avoid dropping its fourth-straight game for the first time since the middle of the 1993 season. The Cougars have a great chance in accomplishing this given the fact they’ve won 10-straight meetings with the Utah State Aggies and have not scored less than 30 points against them since a 20-17 loss in 1982. The team is coming off a disappointing 27-13 home loss to the Nevada at LaVell Edwards Stadium, given the defense held the Wolf Pack’s high-powered offense to well below its season average of 50.7 points per game. Over the past three seasons, BYU has compiled a 10-19 ATS record and the total is 14-15 O/U in that span. You can shop around and compare odds on this game at the college football lines page of our site.
The Cougars will be under the direction of freshman quarterback Jake Heaps for the second straight game due to a season-ending injury to junior signal caller Riley Nelson. He went 24-for-45 for 229 yards in the contest and received praise from head coach Bronco Mendenhall. “His performance was a bright spot and a work in progress,” he said after the game. “The standards I’m measuring are week to week.” BYU will look to turn things around against a WAC opponent, posting a 23-8 mark against current schools competing in the conference, including a 29-27 mark against all teams other than Utah State. Since Mendenhall took over in Provo, the team is 3-1 against the conference with all three wins coming against the Aggies. The Cougars are 4-5 ATS when playing as a road favorite over the last three campaigns.
Utah State is desperate to pick up its first win in this series since a wild 58-56 battle in 1993 and trying to snap the Cougars’ 10-game win streak in the series. The Aggies lead 17-15-2 in games played at Logan, but BYU has won the last four. Since 1987, Utah State and BYU have played each other 17 times with 13 of them falling on Friday night, as the men from Provo have won all 13 such meetings. In fact, the team has lost 14 straight non-Saturday games since winning the Las Vegas Bowl in 1993. Another discouraging streak is the squad’s current 12-game losing streak to the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies are 12-7 ATS over the last three seasons as an underdog and the total is 10-10 O/U in those games.
The Aggies are led by senior quarterback Diondre Borell, who will be making his 26th start under center, setting four school records along the way. He set a single-season total offense record with 3,343 yards from scrimmage last season. Head coach Gary Anderson still has hopes of turning the season around, but has been forced to play eight freshmen due to injuries and the team has to recover emotionally from a 41-7 blowout loss to San Diego State last week. “We have to move on quickly,” he said after the game. Utah State is 6-2 ATS in its last eight games against the MWC and the under is 3-0-1 in the last four such meetings.
Bettors may aim in playing the underdog in this contest due to the Cougars 1-8 ATS mark in their last nine October tilts, while the Aggies are 5-1 ATS in their last six contests during the month.
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