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There is one college football game on the schedule Friday night and its one of college football’s oldest rivalries as Utah visits Utah State, with the Utes as 7-point favorites on WagerWeb.com. Utah State is Utah’s oldest rival and the series, in its 110th game, is the 12th-longest in NCAA FBS history. Utah’s first football game ever was against USU in 1892. The two teams did not play in 2010 and 2011.
Utah State, of the WAC, opened the 2012 season with an easy 34-3 victory over FCS school Southern Utah last Thursday. Joe Hill rushed for 116 yards and three touchdowns and Chuckie Keeton completed 22 of 26 passes for 304 yards and two scores as Utah State rolled. The Aggies will head to the Mountain West after this season.
The Aggies’ offense will have a different look this year because of the loss of two tailbacks to the NFL — fourth-round pick Robert Turbin (Seahawks) and seventh-round pick Michael Smith (Buccaneers). Those two combined for 2,775 yards and 34 touchdowns last season.
Utah, of the Pac-12, opened with a 41-0 rout of Northern Colorado last Friday. John White rushed for 119 yards, Jordan Wynn threw for two touchdowns and backup quarterback Travis Wilson ran for two more scores to power Utah. Wynn took some time to regain his form after missing the final nine games of the 2011 season due to a left shoulder injury. The Utes’ first drive ended in an interception by Courtney Hall on Wynn’s underthrown pass, but he recovered to complete 19 of 27 passes for 200 yards, including both TD passes to tight end Jake Murphy. White, who set Utah’s single-season rushing record last year, carried 24 times on his way to his ninth career 100-yard game.
Northern Colorado, which has lost 19 of its past 20 games and was 0-11 last season, never crossed midfield and managed only 114 total yards on 50 plays. Utah was one of five teams to pitch a shutout during the opening weekend and its win over Northern Colorado was its first shutout since 2007 (50-0 vs. Wyoming). The Utes set Rice-Eccles Stadium records (opened in 1998) for plays (21) and time of possession (10:43) on a 91-yard touchdown drive vs. UNC.
Utah has won the last 12 games against Utah State (and 20 of 22), including the last six games in Logan. Utah’s record in road openers against the Aggies is 8-2. Over is 3-0-1 in the last 4 meetings. Utes are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 meetings in Utah State. Utes are 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings. Favorite is 5-2-1 ATS in their last 8 meetings. Road team is 5-0-1 ATS in their last 6 meetings.
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