Las Vegas Bowl: BYU vs Oregon State - College Football Odds

Points should be plentiful in college football odds for Tuesday's game as 16th ranked Oregon State faces 15th ranked BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl at 8:00pm EST on ESPN. The Cougars have quarterback Max Hall, tight end Dennis Pitta and running back Harvey Unga while Oregon State has quarterback Sean Canfield and the Rodgers brothers, Jacquizz and James. Despite being ranked lower than the Cougars, the Beavers are 3-point favorites in college football odds at online sportsbooks with a total of 58.5 for the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl. Both teams really like to throw the ball so it should be an exciting contest.

The Beavers are hurting on defense as starting cornerback Tim Clark broke his leg in the last game against Oregon. "We're thin. We're absolutely thin.'' head coach Mike Riley said. Oregon State wasn’t that great in the secondary with Clark so they are really going to suffer without him. They didn’t pressure the quarterback much this season and if they don’t get pressure on Hall they are going to have a long night. BYU was 12th in the country in passing this season. Oregon State has more speed but BYU has the better schemes. The Beavers have the playmaking ability of the Rodgers brothers and they are going to need big plays to win this game. They are also going to need Canfield to at least hold his own in this game.

The Beavers may need to score 40 points to win this shootout in college football odds and that means Canfield must play well in the Las Vegas Bowl. “The focus is winning the game, obviously, but it’s fun going against a great quarterback and I take pride in every time I step out on the field being the best quarterback out there,” Canfield said. Canfield threw for 3,103 yards and 21 touchdowns while completing 70 percent of his passes. Hall threw for 3,368 yards and 30 touchdowns. Oregon State is favored in college football odds even though they are coming off that tough loss to Oregon that cost them a berth in the Rose Bowl.

"Like I told the team: We do not make excuses at Oregon State. So if we don't win this game it won't be about that, it will be about that game, that day,” head coach Mike Riley said. Heading into the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl, the Beavers are 6-1 in college football lines for their last 7 Bowl games and they are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 Bowl games as a favorite. Oregon State is 5-2 in their last 7 vs. the Mountain West. The Beavers are 12-5 ATS in their last 17 games as a favorite. The Under is 4-1 in college football odds in the Cougars last 5 Bowl games.