Colorado vs Utah Prediction, Best Bets & Updated Line for Big 12 Saturday Night

• The Utah Utes are 13.5-point favorites over the visiting Colorado Buffaloes on Saturday night
• Colorado has lost six straight in Utah dating back to 2013
• See below for my Colorado vs Utah prediction, odds and best bet

The Colorado Buffaloes (3-4, 1-3 Big 12) will look for their first set of back-to-back wins on the season, as they visit the Utah Utes (5-2, 2-2 Big 12), who just had their 2-game win streak snapped.

The books still believe in the home team, listing them as hefty double-digit favorites in the college football odds.

Kickoff is scheduled for Saturday at 10:15 pm ET from Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT, with ESPN providing the broadcast coverage.

Colorado vs Utah Prediction

There’s a major breaking story that can affect the outcome of this matchup, and that’s the status of Utah starting quarterback Devon Dampier.

The junior pivot suffered an ankle injury in the Utes’ 24-21 loss to BYU last week. While he did finish the game, freshman Byrd Ficklin was inserted for designed QB runs.

With his status uncertain, Utah is removing some standout output. Dampier has thrown for 1,375 yards with 13 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He’s also running at a healthy 5.5 yards a tote, and has five rushing scores on the year.

The QB experience falls off the map if Ficklin gets the start. He’s thrown all of nine passes this year and one TD, while adding 17 carries for 111 yards and three touchdowns.

The last time we saw Colorado, they were completing an upset win of 22nd-ranked Iowa State 24-17. They come into this one off a bye week, with plenty of time to prepare against a lesser version of Dampier.

Kaidon Salter is by far the best pivot on the field Saturday, and Colorado’s QB is coming off one of his best games of the season, throwing for 255 yards and two scores.

Salter and the Buffs’ offense, which sits 14th in the Big 12, will be tested by a Utah defense that is second in points allowed (15.3) and boasts the third-best pass defense in the conference, allowing just 155.4 pass yards per game.

Colorado vs Utah Best Bet

Even before Dampier was questionable, Colorado was a team on my potential upset list, just because of the scheduling circumstance.

Utah is in the meaty part of its Big 12 schedule, having faced Arizona State (then ranked 21st) and BYU (ranked 15th), with no. 21 Cincinnati a week after the Colorado game.

Key Offensive Stats

The Buffs slide right into trap game territory, the one unranked team in this gauntlet, that just happened to play well enough to beat a ranked team the last time it took the field.

Colorado’s defense is 10th in the Big 12, allowing 23.7 points per game, and they’re not a big turnover team, with just three interceptions and three forced fumbles.

But taking on a freshman quarterback in this spot will help them. Losing Dampier also takes a chunk out of the conference’s top rushing attack.

For your purposes, Colorado doesn’t need to win outright; they just need to stay within striking range of the Utes.

Colorado vs Utah Updated Odds

The Buffaloes enter this one as 13.5-point underdogs, and the line has only slightly gone down, from as high as 14.5 points, when news was that Dampier might miss this game.

There was some movement on the moneyline as well, as Colorado moved from opening in the +300 range before extending to around the +425 range. FanDuel has the Utes at -490, but plenty of other books have them deep into the -550 range, with BetMGM having Utah at -600.

The total was once moving in the low 50-point range, but most books have them settled Under that mark. All the Under bettors can find the line as high as 49.5 points, while Over bettors should be able to find a 48.5 line with little digging necessary.