BetOnline customers would be well-advised not to sell the Utah Utes short. They were the only team this season to beat USC, and they beat them twice. And the way they dropped the Trojans in the Pac 12 championship game was impressive, to say the least. So if you are leaning toward the so-called legacy program, the Penn State Nittany Lions, you may want to think a bit more carefully about that.

In a season where most of the ballyhoo was about Lincoln Riley‘s arrival at USC, and where Utah was written off by some after the season opening loss to Florida, they now find themselves in a bowl game that's been called “the granddaddy of them all,“ and have a chance to make some real noise against a team that missed out on the Big Ten championship game and the college football playoff.

Here are the odds, as they are posted at BetOnline:

Penn State Nittany Lions -1.5 (-112)
Utah Utes +1.5 (-108)

Over 54 points -115
Under 54 points -105

We won’t argue that Utah was aided a little bit by an injury to Caleb Williams, but they did come back after trailing 17–3 to score 44 of the next 51 points and destroy the Trojans for the Pac 12 title. They were no fluke; Utah finish tenth in the nation with 220 rushing yards per game, and they did a lot of that without Tavion Thomas, who was hampered by injuries. He won’t play here, but there’s not a lot to worry about, with the combination of Micah Bernard and Ja Quinden Jackson, the latter of whom is a redshirt freshman who is the next big star in that backfield.

Quarterback Cameron Rising is absolutely fearless, and he was a 66% passer on the season, with 25 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. One thing that is important to note is that he was sacked only nine times, and that, coupled with Utah’s impressive rushing statistics, indicates that is offensive line is stellar.

They will have to be all of that and more against Penn State, which has 37 sacks on the season. But here’s the thing - if the Lions, whose stop unit is guided by former Miami coach Manny Diaz, cannot get through to Rising, this could be a long day for them.

Meanwhile, Penn State should do some business offensively. Sean Clifford has always been sort of a game changer a quarterback, and the six-year senior had a very good ratio of 22 touchdowns against seven interceptions. The Nittany Lions don’t have to rely on the air attack exclusively, as they’ve got two running backs who are extremely formidable - Nicolas Singleton had 932 yards and Keytron Allen had 830. And that should tell you enough about the balance that exists in this office.

And speaking about balance, we wonder if the absence of Utah’s top receiver and Penn State‘s top defensive back will balance each other out. Dalton Kincade is one of the better tight ends in the country, but James Franklin's squad will be without Joey Porter Jr, who is an All-American at the cornerback spot, and that means more.

Utah is 12–5 against the spread in its last 17 bowl games, and Kyle Whittingham has generally been known as a coach who takes the preparation time for a bowl game very seriously. Here, he's had as much time as anybody. Do not count on a flat performance from the Utes. In a game where we look for a lot of scoring, they should be able to put together one more stop, and for that reason, we are taking Utah plus the points while going “over“ on the total.

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