Utah is in the driver's seat in the Pac-12 South Division. ESPN’s FPI gives the Utes a 95 percent chance to come home with the division title and compete in the conference championship games.
To fulfill those lofty ambitions, Utah will need to take care of business on short rest on the road against Stanford on Friday night. Will the unfavorable scheduling prove too much, or will the Utes continue their hot streak?
Check out our picks and predictions for the Utah Utes vs. the Stanford Cardinal on Friday, November 5 to find out.
Utah vs Stanford odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Utah opened as -6 favorites, but that soft opener quickly moved to -7.5 across most books. That’s where the line sits as of the time of this writing. Use the live odds widget above to track any future line movements right up until kickoff and be sure to check out the full college football odds before placing your bets.
Utah vs Stanford picks
Picks made on 11/03/2021 at 7:00 a.m. ET.
Click on each pick to jump to the full analysis.
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Utah vs Stanford game info
• Location: Stanford Stadium, Stanford, CA
• Date: Friday, November 5, 2021
• Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
• TV: FS1
Utah vs Stanford betting preview
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our NCAA football weather info.
Key injuries
Utah: Jaren Kump OL (Questionable).
Stanford: Tanner McKee QB (Questionable), Casey Filkins RB (Out), Michael Wilson WR (Probable), Elijah Higgins WR (Questionable), Brycen Tremayne WR (Questionable), John Humphreys WR (Questionable), Bradley Archer TE (Out), Lukas Unger TE (Questionable), Keaton Bills OL (Questionable), Ethan Bonner CB (Probable), Salim Turner-Muhammad CB (Probable).
Find our latest NCAA football injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Utes are 6-1 ATS in their last seven games against a team with a losing record. . Find more NCAA betting trends for Utah vs. Stanford.
Utah vs Stanford predictions
Utah -7.5 (-110)
Utah is rolling right now. After a slow start to the season, the Utes have won four of their last five games and look to compete in the Pac-12 title race with a leg-up on the South Division.
It’s not happenstance that this hot streak has coincided with the insertion of Cam Rising at quarterback. Rising has looked fantastic since taking the reins under center and this offense has hit another level, scoring at least 34 points in each of its last four games.
Most casual fans will recognize Stanford as the plucky underdog that upset Oregon earlier in the year. The truth is, outside of the Oregon upset there have been very few positive results for the Cardinal. They sit at 3-5 on the season and have lost three straight Pac-12 games. They’ve been badly outplayed in each of those games, losing the yards per play battle by over a full yard each time out.
Indeed, the Utes don’t receive any special treatment with this scheduling spot. Surging toward the Pac-12 South title? How about a road trip on short rest for a Friday game against a North team?
That being said, Utah appears to be the vastly superior team at this point in the season and that should outweigh this scheduling spot, which is giving us a favorable line.
The Cardinal are horribly banged up, especially offensively. Quarterback Tanner McKee is questionable to play, and no other player on this roster has thrown a touchdown pass in their career. Both starting wide receivers are also questionable.
Stanford has failed to defend their home turf, going just 1-5 ATS in its last six home games. While Utah sits at only 3-5 ATS on the season, this is a vastly superior team to what they were earlier in the season and are hitting its stride. We’ll lay the points and trust that the Utes continue their hot streak.
Over 54.5 (-106)
This handicap is mostly about Utah’s surging offense. The rushing attack, led by Tavion Thomas (431 yards in the last four games), is ranked eighth in the nation with 5.5 yards per carry on the season and should find success against a soft Stanford rushing defense allowing 208.9 yards per game, 122nd in the nation.
This hasn’t been your father’s Utah team. Favoring a more conservative approach in recent years, the Utes have seen some high-scoring affairs of late. Over the last four outings, the Utes and their opponents are combining to average 67 points per game — well Over the total of 54.5.
Stanford’s offense is dealing with health issues at quarterback and receiver, but it’s not as if Utah has been shutting teams downs defensively, surrendering over 400 yards in each of its last four games.
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