Oregon State @ Utah preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 16, 2014 ) Utah 29, Oregon State 23

Utah suffered a costly loss to USC last week and attempts to get back on course Saturday when it hosts Oregon State in Pac-12 play. The No. 14 Utes saw their resume receive a blemish with the loss to the Trojans but coach Kyle Whittingham insists Utah still has a chance of being selected for the College Football Playoff.

The Utes and Stanford are the lone one-loss teams in the Pac-12 and don't face each other in the regular season. But if the two teams meet in the Pac-12 title game and the winner still has only one loss, there could be a College Football Playoff berth awaiting the winner. “My guess is that there won’t be any undefeated teams in the Power 5 (conferences) at the end of the season, maybe one," Whittingham said at a press conference. "When you look back, it’s really hard to go undefeated. We don’t really care about anything but this week, but historically, it’s really hard to go undefeated.” Oregon State is just looking to record its first Pac-12 victory and enters with a four-game losing streak.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network. LINE: Utah -24.

ABOUT OREGON STATE (2-5, 0-4 Pac-12): Freshman quarterback Seth Collins is an all-purpose quarterback who has passed for 890 yards and six touchdowns and rushed for a team-best 536 yards and five scores. Redshirt freshman running back Ryan Nall is in line to start after rolling up 122 yards in last Saturday's loss to Colorado while senior Storm Barrs-Woods (352 yards) is expected to see action despite a tender knee. Junior middle linebacker Rommel Mageo leads the defense in tackles (55), interceptions (two), forced fumbles (two) and sacks (two) and has been the bright spot of a unit that has allowed 35 or more points on four occasions.

ABOUT UTAH (6-1, 3-1): Quarterback Travis Wilson threw four interceptions against USC after entering the contest with three and the senior with 1,234 yards and nine touchdowns will need to bounce back against the Beavers. Senior running back Devontae Booker has been superb with 845 yards and eight touchdowns while freshman receiver Britain Covey (29 receptions for 345 yards and four touchdowns) excelled against USC with seven catches for 129 yards and two scores. Senior outside linebacker Gionni Paul leads the Utes with 67 tackles and nine tackles for losses -- he had 17 tackles, including 5.5 for losses against USC -- while sophomore free safety Marcus Williams (four) and junior cornerback Dominique Hatfield (three) have combined for seven of Utah's Pac-12 leading 13 interceptions.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Oregon State leads the series 11-7-1 but Utah produced a 29-23 double-overtime victory in last season's matchup.

2. Barrs-Woods (2,535) needs 18 yards to pass Dave Schilling (1969-71) for fifth place on the Beavers' career rushing list.

3. Utes senior MLB Jared Norris (48 tackles) will likely miss his second straight game with an unspecified injury.

PREDICTION: Utah 45, Oregon State 20