#10 Oregon and #17 Utah get set to square off in the 2021 Pac 12 Championship Game betting preview. It’s a very familiar matchup as these two teams met in week 12 in what ended up being a dominant 38-7 win by the Utes. The loss knocked OU from the #3 spot in the CFP rankings and will likely be the game that keeps Oregon out of the playoffs.
Revenge is on the mind for Oregon on Friday night in Las Vegas, but Utah has their own reasons for wanting a victory most notably their first victory in the Pac-12 Championship game after being here in three of the last four years. A Utes win as -3 point favorites would also send the team to their first Rose Bowl berth in school history.
Oregon Tries to Get Physical
Friday night’s matchup features two top 20 teams in rushing, with Oregon ranking 19th with 213.3 ypg and Utah 15th compiling 218.3 yards on the ground per contest. The way the Utes were able to dominate the previous matchup on November 20th was by controlling the trenches, holding a 208-63 edge in rushing yards.
Oregon QB Anthony Brown was 17/35 in the first meeting with the Utes, but Oregon never had a chance to establish any sort of offensive balance after falling down 28-0 by halftime. Brown had a nice bounce back last Saturday, completing 23/28 passes for 275 yards and 2 TD to lead the Ducks to a 38-29 win over in-state rival Oregon State as -7.5 favorites.
Brown needs to be great in the Pac 12 Championship Game betting matchup with Oregon as +3 point underdogs. The good news is that this game is being played at neutral site Allegiant Stadium. If Brown can keep the Ducks close early, it will RB Travis Dye to get going like he did last week for 20 carries, 99 yards and 3 TD. Dye had a mere 6 carries for 29 yards in the first meeting with Utah.
Utah Knows the Formula
It’s not a home game this time, but Utah knows what to do to beat Oregon – run the ball, play great defense, and get big plays like Britain Covey’s 78-yard punt return right before the half that completely demoralized the Duck in the first meeting.
Utah may have caught Oregon off guard in week 12, which is weird because the Utes had won six of their last seven heading into that matchup. It’s obvious this is a different team that lost games to BYU (26-17) and San Diego State (33-31 OT) even though those teams are ranked #12 and #19 now respectively.
The Utes have the #1 ground game in the Pac-12 as well as the #3 defense in pass and rush yards allowed. The Utah offense has been absolutely on fire with 34+ in seven straight prior to last week’s letdown game against Colorado, in which they still won 28-13 as -24 point favorites. RB Tavion Thomas has 140+ yards in three of his last four and QB Cameron Rising has 17TD passes to just 3 INT on the season.
2021 Pac 12 Championship Game Betting Pick
It looks like Utah is just too much here, as this is a physical team that you just don’t want to meet up with this time of the year. Neutral site or not, we should see a very similar performance to the Utes win a couple weeks ago.
Utah 34 – Oregon 27
Free Pick: Utah -3
