The Oregon State Beavers and Utah State Aggies are set to meet on Saturday in the LA Bowl. It’s the inaugural edition of the bowl game and is located in the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams, SoFi Stadium.
Oregon State enters the game with a 7-5 record, having finished third in the Pac-12 North with a conference record of 5-4. Oregon State boasts one of the more potent offenses in the Pac-12, as it finished third in total yards per game (430.4) and points per game (32.8). The Beavers got there relying largely on their rushing attack, as they ran the ball on 59.2% of their offensive snaps, ranking 16th nationally. And when you have a running back like B.J. Baylor, why wouldn’t you run the ball? Baylor led the Pac-12 with 1,258 yards rushing, and his 13 rushing touchdowns tied for fourth. Baylor was the only back in the Pac-12 to average over 100 yards rushing per game (104.8).
Utah State’s offense isn’t too bad itself. The Aggies scored 33.2 points per game during the regular season, helping lead to a 10-3 record and Mountain West title. Utah State’s story is one of the better ones in college football. Blake Anderson is in his first year with the Aggies, coming from Arkansas State in hopes of finding a fresh start after losing both his wife and father in a short period of time. The move seems to have rejuvenated both Anderson and the Utah State program, as the conference title is the school’s first since joining the Mountain West and first anywhere since winning the WAC in 2012.
Oregon State vs. Utah State: Need to know
The two schools have a shared connection: Shall we call it the Gary Andersen Bowl? Andersen was the coach of Utah State the last time it won a conference title in 2012. It was Andersen’s best season at…
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