NCAAF: Utah Hosts BYU Cougars

BYU (13) @ Utah +9.0: BYU isn’t the same team it was under Zach Wilson, although the strong Independent team can still challenge for the conference title. The Cougars are 4-0 so far this season, but really haven’t been challenged other than a decently impressive win over Arizona State in Week 3. Arizona, Utah, and South Florida aren’t exactly a murderer’s row, so as weird as it may sound, Utah State will pose one of the biggest challenges to BYU so far this year. Utah State was sensational in its first three games, upsetting Washington State in Washington, while beating up on North Dakota and narrowly eking out a victory in a high scoring affair against Air Force. The dud it put up in Week 4 against Boise State was not indicative of the effort they put on the field. Utah State put up 443 yards of offense against Boise State but just couldn’t translate any of it into points. I think the pace of Utah State’s offense will catch BYU off guard in the early going, as the Cougars do have difficulty stopping the run. Utah State has a balanced attack and had over 200 rushing and passing yards in Week 4. Take Utah State +9.0 at home as I believe they will bounce back and put up a stronger effort than last week.