College Football Game of the Week: No. 12 Utah vs. No. 14 Oklahoma State

When Utah and Oklahoma State face off Saturday, it will be the first meeting between the two since 1945 and their first matchup as conference opponents.

It’s a matchup of two very experienced quarterbacks, Utah’s Cam Rising and Oklahoma State’s Alan Bowman. For comparison, the combined age of this game’s starting quarterbacks is 49 years.

The combined age of the starting quarterbacks in this Sunday’s matchup between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears is 44 years.

This is the first conference game for Utah as a member of the Big 12. They played Baylor two weeks ago, but that game does not count as a conference game or in the conference standings as it had been previously scheduled as a non-conference game while Utah was still a member of the Pac-12.

Rising is coming off of a hand injury two weeks ago against Baylor. He didn’t play last week against Utah State, but he got off to a hot start through the first game and a half with 346 yards and seven touchdowns.

With Rising out last week, backup Isaac Wilson had a strong performance, but Utah turned to its ground game, compiling 223 yards on the ground. Senior Micah Bernard had 123 yards and a touchdown on just 17 carries. That running game will be facing a defense that gave up 232 rushing yards to Arkansas in a game that went into double overtime.

By contrast, the running game is a major concern for Oklahoma State. Ollie Gordon came into the year widely considered the best running back and one of the best players in the country after a season in which he had over 1700 rushing yards and over 2000 yards from scrimmage.

He had a good start, albeit against FCS opponent South Dakota State, but he hasn’t even reached 50 rushing yards in their last two games.

Oklahoma State’s offense has relied on Bowman’s play who has thrown for over 700 yards in the last two games, including leading a comeback win over Arkansas, and a five-touchdown performance last week.

They’ll be facing a defense that has been in the top 30 in the country in points allowed and yards allowed the last two years and shows no signs of slowing down. Oklahoma State will have to get Gordon going to have a chance. If they can’t, Utah’s front seven, led by Van Fillinger who already has 4.5 sacks this season, could wreak havoc on the Cowboys' offense.

If Utah’s ground game is as effective again this Saturday as it has been so far this year, it will be a long day for Oklahoma State’s defense. It will open up more options for Rising, who is very experienced and mature, to carve up the Cowboys.

Jacob Rudy is a second-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jar7371@psu.edu.