MAACO Las Vegas Bowl: 5 Reasons Utah Will Upset Boise State
Boise State will go up against the Utah Utes in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl.
Boise State is predicted by many experts to win this game and is listed as 17-point favorites by online sportsbooks.
Boise State is having a great year despite the one loss to Nevada that took them out of contention for the BCS Championship game. However, the Utah Utes are a good football team. If the Broncos are not careful, they could lose this game.
Here are five reasons the Utes will upset the Broncos.
Boise State Letdown
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No one on the team would admit it, but the Broncos have to be disappointed to be playing in the MAACO Las Vegas Bowl.
They spent most of the year towards the top of the College Football Polls, and this was the year they were finally going to be playing in the National Championship Game.
They started the year off with their highest ranking ever in the school’s history and were even selected No. 1 on a few ballots.
After an early season win against Virginia Tech, the Broncos were all but a shoo-in to play for the title and be a part of the discussion as the best team in the country when the season ended.
After a missed field goal and a loss to Nevada, the Broncos are now playing in a second-rate bowl. Playing in this game is a letdown for the Broncos, and if they don’t snap out of that mindset they could lose this game.
Utah Is a Good Team Too
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The entire country knows that Boise State has a good football team, but they may not know Utah does as well.
At one point Utah boasted a record of 8-0 and a top 5 ranking in the BCS. After a crushing loss to top ranked TCU and a hangover loss to Notre Dame the week after, they plummeted in the rankings.
Utah runs the spread offense and averages 35 points a game overall and 41 points a game in their wins.
On defense they rank No. 20 nationally as they allow 319.7 yards of total offense per game.
Trends
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The college football sports betting trends favor Utah in this game.
The Utes are 4-0 against the spread (ATS) in their last four bowl games as an underdog, 7-1 ATS in their last eight bowl games and 5-1 ATS in their last six neutral site games.
The Broncos are 1-4 ATS in their last five games in December, and as bowl history will show, the Broncos tend to stumble late in the season.
The Utes may not pull off the upset, but the trends suggest it will be closer than the experts think.
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Past Bowl Performance
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Quick!
Name the college football team with the highest winning percentage in the nation with at least ten or more bowl appearances and owns the current longest bowl-game winning streak.
Did you guess Utah?
That’s right. It may come as a shock but the Utes are 12-3 in the last 15 bowl games and have won nine straight.
Boise State has lost four of their last six bowl appearances, including loses to Boston College, Louisville and East Carolina.
The Utes coaching staff knows how to get their team ready to go bowling.
Change at QB No Problem
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The Utes will call on backup quarterback Terrance Cain after starter Jordan Wynn suffered a season-ending shoulder injury against BYU. For most teams this would pose a serious problem, but not for Utah.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham has all the confidence in the world in his senior signal-caller. He has completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 2,234 yards and 17 touchdowns, with seven interceptions.
Cain is comfortable with all the schemes that the offense employs and is mobile in the pocket. The extra mobility could come in handy against a Boise State team that applies pressure to the opposing quarterbacks.
Cain is just one of the many reasons the Utes could pull off the upset against Boise State.
Matt Regaw is a B/R Featured Columnist and the founder of BookieBlitz.com, your one-stop shop for sports articles, previews and predictions. Feel free to contact Matt at mregaw@gmail.com.
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