Oregon St. vs. Utah Game Thread

Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Kake City, UT / ROOT Sports NW / KEJO 1240 AM / KPAM 860 AM (Streamed)

Oregon St. (2-5, 2-2) visits Utah (3-4, 0-4) for the Utes' annual "Blackout" game Saturday night.

The Beavers come in fresh off a dominant 44-21 win over Washington St. in Seattle, and have won 2 of their last 3 games. Sean Mannion earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors after completing 26 of 34 passes, for 376 yards, and 4 touchdowns. DE Scott Crichton received the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week honor, after forcing 2 fumbles, and co-leading the Beavers in tackles, with 7.

The Utes were dominated by California, as the Golden Bears opened a 34 point lead, and coasted to a 34-10 win. The Utes managed only 178 total yards, and turned the ball over 4 times, 3 on interceptions thrown by Jon Hayes. With the defeat, Utah has lost 3 of their last 4 games, all by multiple touchdown margins.

Despite this, the Utes are 5 point favorites at home in this game.

Oregon St. leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1931, 9-5-1, but Utah won the last meeting, also in Salt Lake City, in 2008, 31-28, when Louie Sakoda hit a 37 yard field goal as time expired, completing an 11 point comeback by the Utes after the Beavers had taken a 28-20 lead with 2:18 left. The win preserved 15th. ranked Utah's unbeaten record, and the Utes would go on to a 13-0 season, capped by a 31-17 upset over #4 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.

Injuries have been a major factor in Oregon St.'s slow start, but the Beavers are getting healthy as time goes by. In contrast mounting injuries to key players, most notably the loss of quarterback Jordan Wynn for the season, has increasingly hampered Utah.

Here's the place to chat about the game, the new venue and city to the league, and how well Utah has fared in their initial season in the Pac-12.

Buildingthedam.com will be at the game, and be back after wards, with complete coverage and analysis.

Go Beavs!