The Utah Utes (8-3) will venture to Boulder for a showdown with Colorado (1-10) in the regular season finale for both sides. The Utes will be ready for the program’s 25th all-time bowl appearance, while Colorado will pick up the pieces from their fifth losing season in the last six years.
Only during the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign did the Buffs win more games than they lost in the span. In a series that began over 100 years ago, Utah has the all-time edge 33-32-3 in a rivalry dubbed “Rumble in the Rockies.”
Read our piece below for a Utah vs Colorado betting prediction, as well as the latest Utah Utes stats, Colorado Buffaloes ranking within the NCAA leaders, college football injuries, and NCAAF standings.
Last game records
After winning four in a row, Utah dropped a road contest at Oregon 20-17. The Buffaloes continued their losing ways, falling to homestanding Washington 54-7. The game marked the third time in as many games that CU defense has surrendered 49 or more points.
Matchup Information
Utah Utes at Colorado Buffaloes Betting Analysis
In looking at NCAAF odds this week, the Utes are 29.5-point road favorites, and the total is 52 points. The game is one of 18 on the NCAAF schedule this week, featuring a top-25 team in action as Utah finds itself ranked 10th.
In the year, Utes are 6-5 against the number, while the Buffs are 2-9 ATS. Utah coach Kyle Whittingham is 56-41 SU in road contests, 27-30 ATS as a road favorite, and 84-8-1 ATS in Pac-12 games.
Utes Look to Finish Strong
The Utes run an average of 75.5 offensive plays per game and throw it almost exactly as many times as they run it. The team ranks 42nd nationally in total yards while being much more productive on the ground than in the air. Utah’s defense ranks 69th in yards allowed and is much stingier against the run than they are in the air.
Utah’s 37.3 points per game put them 16th in all the land in scoring while they allow 20 points a contest, good for 154th in all of Division I.
Buffaloes Play Spoiler Role
It has been anything but a solid or good season in Boulder as athletics director Rick George fired Karl Dorrell 5 games into the season, all defeats, and replaced him with Mike Sanford, Jr., the team’s play caller.
Predictably, the Buffs have been putrid all around and do not rank within the top 200 in the NCAA (FBS and FCS combined) in any major offensive category. In its last 3, Colorado has been outgained by an average of 528 to 276.
Updates
The Colorado Buffaloes come into one of three NCAAF games to be shown on Pac-12 Network relatively healthy. The Utes injury report is pretty clean as well, with running back Jaylon Glover, who has been missing since the team’s Week 10 home win over Arizona, with a lower-body injury listed as probable.
Utah at Colorado Betting Preview
When making a Utah vs Colorado betting prediction, there are a number of factors to consider. This late in the season, with the exception of a few matchups where teams are vying for a slot in the CFP playoffs, want-to and motivation are huge intangibles. Utah is a great bowl team, and it leads us to believe that despite being on the road, they’ll be locked and loaded for this one.
Hard to fathom a huge crowd since students are home for Thanksgiving and the Buffs are 1-10, and the game isn’t a traditional bitter rivalry. As can be easily foreseen by just taking a look at both teams’ win-loss records, Utah ranks extremely nigh in many offense categories, while the Buffs defense has been abysmal.
Utah at Colorado Betting Prediction
The line is 30.5 is very, very high, but we expect the Utes to come out firing on all cylinders and make amends for this loss last week to Oregon. Colorado has been blown out by an average of 40.3 in their previous three contests. Our official Utah vs Colorado betting prediction is to take the Utes and lay the 30.5.
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