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Utah vs. Oregon State: College Football Week 5 Odds & Picks (Friday)

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Gear up for another awesome weekend of college football action with BettingPros! We’ll have you covered with all of our top picks for the week along with our projected spreads and totals to help guide your college football bets. Below are our top picks and predictions for the Week 5 college football game: Utah vs. Oregon State.

Top College Football Odds & Picks: Utah vs. Oregon State

Utah (+3.5) at Oregon State (Friday)

ATL: Utah -1.3

The Utes are 4-0 despite playing short-handed all season, with SP+’s No. 11 resume rank. It’s more than just QB Cam Rising and TE Brant Kuithe, whose statuses are an open-ended question every week.

In the opener against Florida, Utah won by double-digits despite being without eight starters. Most of them have not yet returned. But according to the team, there’s a possibility of that changing this week.

“We’ve got about eight or 10 guys that are very close,” HC Kyle Whittingham said.

The biggest-name of them, Rising, has been medically cleared to return. Rising nearly did last week against UCLA. But after a week of splitting first-team reps with QB Nate Johnson, Utah decided to try to get by one more week without Rising.

Regardless of all that, getting more than a field goal with Utah in this spot feels generous – the potential of returning contributors is the cherry on top.

The Utes’ No. 8 SP+ defense has been nasty all season. Utah’s defense ranks No. 3 in success rate – No. 2 against the pass and No. 8 against the run – and is No. 1 in three-and-out percentage.

That defense has been complimented with the SP+ No. 37 offense and No. 44 special teams. Utah’s offense runs at a snail’s pace – No. 125 adjusted tempo – and methodically moves the ball up the field by chipping away with the run game. Every now and again, Utah has been able to hit an explosive pass as defenses load up.

Oregon State fell to 3-1 by losing 38-35 to Washington State last week. The game wasn’t as close as the score. The Beavers finished with a 7% postgame win expectancy.

Oregon State’s offense to this point has essentially just been a better version of Utah’s: A slow-tempo (No. 88), run-first plan (No. 2 rushing success rate) that occasionally opens up long passes (No. 52 passing explosion).

But Utah has a huge defensive advantage, here. Oregon State’s defense ranks No. 35 SP+. The Beavers make it easy for the opponent to stay on schedule, ranking just No. 96 in defensive success rate.

That suggests that Utah – even if Rising is not back – will be able to be able to keep the chains moving… even if it doesn’t look pretty. Whereas Oregon State’s run-success-dependent offense may be running into a brick wall here, forcing QB DJ Uigalelei to win this thing through the air. We’ve seen that movie before, it never ends well.

I’m also on the Utah moneyline.

The pick: Utah +3.5 (play to pick ‘em)

Best Ways to Bet College Football for Beginners

Game Total

Bettors new to the hobby can be confused by spreads, but game totals are simple. Every football game has a total posted for the combined final score between the two teams. Bettors have the option to choose the OVER or UNDER, generally at -110 odds (risk: $110; win: $100). So if the total is 42 and you take the OVER, you need 43 points to win the bet. If you put a bet down on the over to win $100 and it goes over, you get back the money you initially risked, plus $100. If it stayed under, you would have lost your $110 and that’s it. If by chance the game ended with 42 total points, it’s called a push; when a game pushes, you get the money you risked back but nothing more.

ie: California vs. Illinois, Over 42 or Under 42

tip: Over bets can be a really fun social event with your buddies. Have everyone throw in a few bucks, then take the over together. Instead of getting pumped when one side scores, everyone is pumped for ANY score, all game.

Moneyline

The moneyline is the easiest way to test your college football knowledge: who will win the game? That’s it. The moneyline doesn’t use favorites or underdogs, it’s totally straight up. That said, the risk-reward can be challenging because they’re weighted. Instead of every game being around -110, like game totals and spreads, moneylines vary depending on the matchup.

For our example, California was favored by seven points over Illinois, meaning oddsmakers think the Golden Bears are a touchdown better than the Fighting Illini. If you took Cal on the moneyline, points don’t matter, they just need to win the game. But because it’s safer to take them straight-up without points, you’ll have to risk more when you make the bet — remember, they’re seven points better than Illinois in the eyes of the oddsmakers. In this case, Cal is -280 on the moneyline, so if you want to win $100, you have to risk $280. On the flip side, moneyline bets can be valuable when taking the underdog because it’s a riskier bet — they’re seven points worse than their opponent. In this case, Illinois is the underdog — +220 on the moneyline. You’d win $220 on a $100 bet if you picked Illinois on the moneyline and they pulled off the upset.

ie: California (ML -280) vs. Illinois (ML +220)

tip: Check their history against one another. Keep an eye on the injury report and the weather.

Player Props

Player props are some of the most exhilarating bets you can place during a college football game, but they’re also easy to understand. For major conferences, you’ll have a wide array of options to choose from. Quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and sometimes tight ends will have props to choose from. It’s simple, fun and easy to follow, and odds on player props don’t vary as much as moneylines. Generally, prop bets are in the -110 range like generic spread and total bets.

ie: How many passing yards will Brandon Peters have against California?  Over 250 or Under 250 

tip: Check how players have performed in the situation they’re going to be in. Use split stats on any reliable site to see their numbers at home, on a neutral-site, in December, etc.


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