Ninth-ranked BYU Cougars (7-1, 4-1 Big 12) travel to face third-ranked Utah Utes (8-0, 5-0 Big 12) on Saturday at noon ET in Salt Lake City. The matchup features two top-10 teams from the initial College Football Playoff rankings. BYU is 2-1 on the road this season, while Utah is 5-0 at home in Rice-Eccles Stadium.
The Utes enter as 4.5-point favorites with an over/under of 49.5 points. The money line lists Utah at -182 and BYU at +160. A projection model that simulates each FBS game 10,000 times leans toward the over, which has hit in each of the last three BYU games and six of the last ten Utah games. The model projects a combined 50 points, with the over hitting 54% of the time.
Quarterback projections show BYU's Bear Bachmeier throwing for 220 yards and one touchdown (1,750 yards, 12 touchdowns, four interceptions on the season). Utah's Devon Dampier is projected for over 230 yards and two touchdowns (1,876 yards, 18 touchdowns, seven interceptions). The model also indicates one side of the spread hits in more than 60% of simulations, though the specific side is not disclosed publicly.
The model entered Week 10 on an 80-77 run on top-rated college football picks.
