Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl
Utah State (10-3) vs. Oregon State (7-5), SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, Calif., 7:30 p.m., ABC
Oregon State -7 – O/U 67.5
This game should be one of the better matchups of the day, if not the entire bowl season. Oregon State is playing in its first bowl game since 2013. Utah State, once a college football doormat, has only missed a bowl once since 2010 (not counting last year’s COVID mess). Both teams have won about as much as they’ve lost in recent bowl history. Both teams exceeded expectations this year and are excited to be playing each other. Conventional wisdom says that the Mountain West is overmatched in these contests, though history doesn’t bear that out. The Mountain West is 13-12 against the Pac-12 all-time in bowl games, so it’s best to just focus on which team seems better equipped to play the other. Utah State closed the season on a bit of a run (the blowout loss to Wyoming notwithstanding), while Oregon State finally found its legs at the end of the season before falling to Oregon in the finale. The Beavers have a nice, balanced offensive attack, while the Aggies will pound the ball at a somewhat vulnerable Oregon State defense. If the Aggies protect the ball, they should run the Beavers out of gas somewhere in the middle of the fourth quarter — just enough to claim the victory.
Prediction: Utah State 34-30
Result: Utah State 24-13
Make that 14-12 for the Mountain West against the Pac-12 in bowl games. The Aggies went toe-to-toe with the Beavers in the first half, and then held Oregon State to just a field goal in the second half. The day for underdogs continued in full force, as third-string QB Cooper Legas was pressed into service after starter Logan Bonner went down with a knee injury in the second quarter. Bonner threw two TDs, including a 62-yarder on his first pass. The Aggies carried him off the field — but he wasn’t the game’s offensive MVP. (That was wide receiver Deven Thompkins.)
