Colorado vs. Utah: Early College Football Playoff Implications

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00:04An early start in the Rocky

00:08Mountain State at 10 AM

00:10Mountain Time, Colorado with a

00:12path to a college football

00:14playoff and a Big 12

00:16championship game appearance

00:18will play host to Utah. How

00:20different this year has been

00:22for both of these teams with

00:24the expectations they had

00:26entering the Buffaloes. Now,

00:28half point home favorite against

00:30the preseason pick and favorite

00:32to win the Big 12. That

00:34is Utah. KFCU now nearly

00:36a two touchdown favorite at home

00:38today against the Utes. In a

00:40controversial ending last week

00:42in the 102nd Holy War

00:44Utah did lose at home in Rice

00:46Eccles against BYU.

00:48Meanwhile, Colorado just keeps

00:50winning and just keeps covering.

00:52Seven consecutive covers. The buffs

00:54are perfect in Big 12

00:56covering numbers and now laying

00:58two touchdowns against Utah.

01:00Where do you start your breakdown

01:02for this early matchup in Boulder?

01:04Just knowing that I respect

01:06this Colorado team a lot, but this

01:08is a spot that I was anxious

01:10anxious for and I got

01:12everything I wanted. I know there

01:14are quarterback questions for Utah.

01:16I do not care. I am not betting

01:18on anyone that Utah is playing at quarterback.

01:20Is Cam Ryan available? Let him get out there

01:22and toss it around. I'm betting on

01:24Kyle Whittingham. Quite frankly, Kyle Whittingham could

01:26play quarterback and I would still take the Utes

01:28lost the points. This number late last

01:30night was 11.5. It shot up to 13.5.

01:32Ben, I'll let you explain kind of the questions

01:34around that a little bit more, but

01:36this to me is kind of two coaches

01:38and being in a spot where I know

01:40who I want to back. I'll say

01:42this on Deion's side.

01:44I think the world of what he's done at Colorado.

01:46He's also 0-3 against the number

01:48as a double digit favorite.

01:50Never even really flirting with the cover.

01:52When he did, it was because he was up 29-0 to Stanford

01:54and then they lost outright in that

01:56football game. It's just

01:58not a thing they've done

02:00during his time is cover these

02:02type of numbers. I know there hasn't

02:04been a lot of them. I know they're better this year

02:06than years prior. This is where

02:08Kyle Whittingham factors in. A pedigree

02:10head coach, one of the most in college

02:12football. Not a guy

02:14who's won national championships,

02:16but a guy who commands respect and you saw

02:18that last week with the upset scare that

02:20he put into the BYU Cougars. Whittingham's only

02:22missed ball eligibility twice during

02:24his two decades at Utah

02:26and not including, of course, the COVID season.

02:28This now

02:30is a game that they kind of need if

02:32they're going to be able to get back to a ball

02:34game. I'm not sure they get it.

02:36I'm pretty confident, Joe, they hang inside

02:38double digits. Definitely. I like

02:40Utah with the points as well. Twelve

02:42and a half. I think the biggest factor as

02:44well is they're going to look to run the football.

02:46Bernard's number today is 80

02:48and a half. If he gets through that,

02:50they're controlling the line of scrimmage.

02:52It's basically going to be a four-quarter

02:54game. And the most impressive statistic

02:56last week wasn't the offense, which you're

02:58saying is going up against Texas Tech.

03:00It was how they held and limited that

03:02rushing attack and basically held them

03:04to two and a half yards per carry. Force

03:06Morton and that offense into long third

03:08down situations. This defense is

03:10starting to come into form. They're opportunistic.

03:12Multiple turnovers in the fourth

03:14quarter to change the momentum in

03:16the matchup and give them a double-digit

03:18lead with about five minutes left.

03:20And they played very well down the stretch.

03:22So I'm not going to take away from that. The other

03:24factor as well, you look at the total in the game.

03:26Very low. So that total really

03:28lays in to Utah's offensive

03:30philosophy. They're only allowing

03:32Ben 23% in terms

03:34of third down conversions. That's

03:36going to be the matchup. Run the football.

03:38Stay in manageable third downs. Get Shadour

03:40into long third downs because

03:42from a sack perspective, they could still bring

03:44pressure off the edge. That offensive line

03:46is good. It's not elite. We'll see

03:48how this plays out. I'm taking Utah. I don't suggest

03:50the upset, but I'll take the points with the

03:52low 43 and a half. I think under tonight.

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