Utah travels to Corvallis to face Oregon State on Friday night in a big Pac-12 game. Oregon State can’t afford to fall to 0-2 in Pac-12 play after losing to Washington State the week before. The Beavers have zero margin for error in the Pac-12 race. Falling to 0-2 would mean they would have to run the table to have even a slight chance of making the Pac-12 Championship Game on December 1. Running the table would mean Oregon State would have to beat both Oregon and Washington.
Good luck with that.
The Beavers really need to win here and give themselves a head-to-head tiebreaker over Utah if there’s a two- or three-team tie in the standings later in the season.
Right now, indications are — per Utah beat writer Joshua Newman — that Utah quarterback Cam Rising is unlikely to play at Oregon State. He hasn’t been ruled out — as of lunchtime on Thursday — but signs are pointing to Nate Johnson as the probable starter for the Utes.
Our Pac-12 football experts all agree that Rising simply has to be on the field for Utah to have a good chance of winning in Corvallis: