Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Predictions | Utah State vs Oregon State

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Betting Preview

WagerTalk college football handicapper Tony Finn offers his Oregon State vs Utah State Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl betting preview. At the time of posting, the Beavers from the Pac-12 are 7-point favorites over the Aggies from the Mountain West, with the total sitting at 67.5 points.

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Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl	Betting Notes
Point Spread:	Oregon State Beavers -7 vs Utah State Aggies
Total:	67.5 Points
Game Time:	7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT on Saturday, December 18
Stadium:	SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, California
TV:	ABC

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Analysis

The 2021 Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl features the Utah State Aggies (10-3, Mountain West)and the Oregon State Beavers (7-5, Pac 12). The powerful Oregon State rushing attack is B.J. Baylor with 1,259 yards and 13 touchdowns. The Aggies of Utah State depend on quarterback Logan Bonner and his 3,560 yards passing and 36 touchdowns on game day.

Utah State won 10 games this season and earned a bowl bid for the second time in three years. The Aggies defeated four teams in their ten-win season who were bowl-eligible. Furthermore, all three of their losses were to bowl-eligible schools.

The Beavers of Oregon State collected seven wins and are taking part in their first-holiday bowl since 2013. Three of the seven wins came against bowl-eligible schools. Two of those quality squads were Mountain West members in Hawaii and Utah, while the third was a victory over Pac 12 Arizona State. Three of the Beaver’s five losses were bowl-eligible outfits.

Oregon State Beavers

The Beavers average an impressive 32.9 points per game, which places them among the offensive elite in some circles. That nearly 33 points per event rank the OSU squad 35th in the country in points per game.
Oregon State ranks 12th in the FBS in rushing yards per game with a lofty 217.4 yards. However, the Beavers do not have an offense that allows them to overwhelm the opposition, nor are they a threat to stage exciting comebacks if they are trailing by margin. OSU averages just over 200 yards per game through the air.
Quarterback Chance Nolan conducts the Beavers offense. The Oregon State quarterback has thrown for 2,414 yards with 19 touchdown passes against nine interceptions. Nolan has completed 63.5 percent of his pass attempts this season.
Five of the Beavers wide receivers have registered 200 yards of receiving or more. Trevon Bradford leads the team with 40 catches for 606 yards and five touchdowns.
The Beavers surrender an average of 26 points per game. In addition, the defense allows an average of 146.7 rushings and 241.1 passing yards per game.
The MVP of the Oregon State defense is the always-active middle backer Avery Roberts. The Beavers defensive captain and linebacker leads the team with 123 total tackles.

Utah State Aggies

The Aggies average a loud 33.2 points per game. The Logan, Utah group ranks 30th in the FBS in points per game. Logan Bonner and his big arm have averaged 305.8 yards through the air this season, while the rushing attack has aided Bonner and the passing game with 144.6 yards per game on the ground.
Bonner has tossed 36 touchdowns against 11 interceptions with a 61.2 percent completion rate. In addition, the Aggies have four receivers who have registered 400 or more receiving yards this 2021 season.
This season, Deven Thompkins will cross the 100 reception mark with four catches on Saturday. Thompkins has 96 receptions for 1,589 yards that have resulted in nine touchdowns.
Receivers Brandon Bowling and Derek Wright have captured 750-plus yards through the air this season.
The balance that makes the Aggies dangerous is their ability to break off significant gains via their player personnel at running back. Utah State has four backs that have gained 200 or more yards this season.
On Saturday, Calvin Tyler Jr. looks to cross over the 800 rushing yard mark. He enters the holiday bowl game with 764 yards and six touchdowns.
The Aggies defense surrenders 25.3 points per game and not surprisingly have metrics that suggest they are better against the pass than the run as a unit. Utah State allows an average of 162.6 rushings and 228.4 passing yards per game.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Prediction

Any stats that Oregon State owns that impress you let me remind you that they are a Pac 12. Note that the Pac 12 is not a member of the Power Five as most suggest. Instead, they stake claim to being a part of the sea-to-shining-sea left coast conference and, as such, a member of the Power Five. I have earned many coins betting against the Pac 12 out of conference. And this game doesn’t hold me back from continuing to press my fade of the Pac 12, particularly in a non-conference matchup situation.

The free pick to click in this Holiday Bowl event in Inglewood is on the Mountain West Utah State Aggies plus the points.

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Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Preview from The GoldSheet

We suspect oddsmakers and the wagering public are reacting to conference stereotypes here when in truth there is not much separating the Pac-12 and Mountain West lately, and certainly not a middle-rung Pac rep like OSU and the MW champ. Expect the Beavers to use their smashmouth formula that had been sitting dormant since the days of Dee Andros, with the nation’s 12th-ranked rushing attack (217 ypg) leaning on slashing B.J. Baylor (1259 YR), but USU’s defense was exploited on only a couple of occasions this season.

Meanwhile, QB Logan Bonner, who followed first-year HC Blake Anderson from Arkansas State to the Cache Valley, was a playmaker deluxe for the Aggies, firing 36 TDP including four in the Mountain West title game rout of a San Diego State side not too dissimilar in design from Pac-12 OSU. That win was also one of seven games away from Logan that USU didn’t lose, including a September success at Pac-12 Washington State, which beat the Beavers at midseason.

The most-vulnerable platoon on the field in Inglewood might also be the OSU defense that forced HC Jonathan Smith to switch coordinators (Trent Bray promoted from LB coach after Tim Tibesar was dismissed) in early November. Much like the MW title game, we’re not sure why the Utags are being priced as this big of an underdog in a game they are capable of winning outright.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Video Breakdown

WagerTalk college football handicappers Ralph Michaels, Drew Martin and Adam Trigger offer their Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl betting preview.

Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl Stats

College football handicappers Ralph Michaels and JM Sports have put together a 66-page Bowl Betting Guide featuring everything from first quarter scoring to yards per point to plays per minute. Don’t place a bet on the Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl before diving into this FREE download.

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WagerTalk’s live odds screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the moneylines, point spreads, first half lines and betting percentages for all of the college football bowl games, including this Jimmy Kimmel LA Bowl showdown between Oregon State and Utah State, from your desktop or phone.

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