BYU - Oregon State

Las Vegas Bowl December 20, 8:00pm Las Vegas, NV

BYU (10-2) ________ MtnWest _______ 253.27 ____ ____________YPG = 436.7 (119%) → +6% ____________PPG = 34.8 (134%) → +3% __________dYPG = 330.7 (90%) → -4% ___________dPPG = 21.7 (85%) → -7% ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 Oklahoma 102.05 W, 14-13 2 Tulane -246.99 W, 54-3 3 Florida St 71.14 L, 28-54 4 Colorado St -255.31 W, 42-23 5 Utah St -163.79 W, 35-17 6 UNLV -83.31 W, 59-21 7 San Diego St -155.82 W, 38-28 8 TCU 419.26 L, 7-38 10 Wyoming -36.24 W, 52-0 11 New Mexico -391.30 W, 24-19 12 Air Force 44.52 W, 38-21 13 Utah 174.96 W, 26-23

Oregon State (8-4) ______________ Pac10 __________ 189.28 ____ YPG = 418.2 (113%) PPG = 32.3 (131%) dYPG = 353.1 (94%) dPPG = 24.9 (92%) ____ Wk Opponent oPts Score 1 Portland St -506.84 W, 34-7 2 UNLV -83.31 W, 23-21 3 Cincinnati 473.38 L, 18-28 4 Arizona 236.36 L, 32-37 5 Arizona St -109.63 W, 28-17 6 Stanford 199.79 W, 38-28 8 USC 227.93 L, 36-42 9 UCLA 37.15 W, 26-19 10 California 176.17 W, 31-14 11 Washington 19.13 W, 48-21 12 Washington St -302.11 W, 42-10 14 Oregon 385.85 L, 33-37

Both of these teams are quite solid - gaining more than their opponents usually allow on offense and allowing less than their opponents' average on defense. A single-digit advantage in all areas for the Cougars doesn't amount to much - it's basically even. The Beavers have played the tougher schedule losing to all the top teams they played, while the Cougars lost only twice, but once to the Seminoles who were significantly worse than them.

Both teams can put points on the board, Oregon State only dipping below 20 just once, BYU under 24 just twice. The MtnWest needs a boost, since their regular non-conference games weren't all that impressive. They might get it against the Pac10... but only if they can contain the brothers Rogers. Should be a highly entertaining game.

The Line: BYU +2.5

The Call: BYU by 3

The Result: BYU 44-20

Certainly not as close as expected... Yeah, we can chalk that loss to Florida State up to fluke, and apart from the loss to TCU, the Cougars were stellar all season. The Beavers can't finish, and though they said they were ready, getting that close to the Rose Bowl has to hurt psychologically. But they should be as good next year and have another year of experience to build on.