How and what to watch for Utah vs. Colorado

The No. 21 ranked Colorado Buffaloes will try to inch one step closer towards a Pac-12 South Division crown when they play the Utah Utes Friday at 9:30 p.m. ET in Boulder, CO.

The Buffs (4-0, 3-0 in Pac-12) need to win and hope for USC to lose UCLA to make it to the Pac-12 championship game. Last week Colorado defeated Arizona 24-13 on the road, behind a tremendous performance from running back Jarek Broussard, who had a career-high 301 yards on 25 carries. The sophomore running back outrushed the Wildcats’ running backs by himself and that’s with Arizona running backs Michael Wiley and Gary Brightwell ran for 122 and 117 yards, respectively.

Colorado’s defense will need to do much better job of stopping the run as they face Utes offense that is averaging 185 yards on the ground. Broussard will have a tough challenge ahead of him too as the Utes are only allowing 104.7 rushing yards per game this season.

As for Utah (1-2, 1-2), they got their first win of the season over the Oregon State Beavers last week 30-24. The Utes did not have to worry about standout running back Jermar Jefferson, who missed the game due to COVID-19 testing protocols.

However the star of the game was Utes freshman running back Ty Jordan, who rushed for a season-high 167 yards on 22 carries and a touchdown. Utah is hoping that Jordan can have another 100-yard performance against a Buffaloes’ defense, which is surrendering 4.9 rushing yards per attempt this season.

Game Time/TV Channel/Streaming

You can watch Utah vs. Colorado on Friday, November 11th at 9:30 p.m. ET on FS1, or you can stream it via Fox Sports App with a cable or streaming service login or on Hulu Live and Sling TV.

Point Spread, Totals, Odds, Trends

Point spread:Utah vs. Colorado (-2.5)
Point Total: O/U 47.5
Money line: Utah (+110), Colorado (-134)

• Going back to last season, Utah has a record of 1-4 against the spread and straight up in its last five games.
• The point total went under in five of Utah’s last six games on the road.
• Unlike Utah, Colorado has been pretty good against the spread and straight up since last season. The Buffs have a record of 6-1 in their last seven contests.
• The point total went under in four of Colorado’s last five games against the Utes.

Betting splits

Utah: (22% of handle, 22% percent of bets)
Colorado: (78% of handle, X78X% percent of bets)

The Best Bet

The Utes are coming off a close win, while Colorado is fighting for possibly a Pac-12 division crown and maybe a bid into the Rose Bowl. Outside of the quarterback play, Jarek Broussard will be the player to watch. In every game Colorado has won this season, the 5-foot-9 running back has rushed over 100 yards. If Utah can keep him contained, then they’ve got a chance. But if he breaks the game open, then Buffs will be in control.

Pick: Colorado (-134)

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