2017 Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon and Boise State Meet in the Desert

Oregon and Boise Meet for 1st Time in a Decade

The 2017 Las Vegas Bowl pits the Oregon Ducks and the 5th-ranked Boise State Broncos against each other on Saturday. They will battle at Sam Boyd Stadium and kick-off is set for 3:30 pm EST. ABC Sports presented by ESPN will have the telecast. Pacific Northwest powers meet for the first time in almost a decade. The Mountain West champion Broncos won each of the two previous meetings. The 19-8 victory in Boise on Sept. 3, 2009, that is most remembered for what happened after the game. That contest marked the Oregon head-coaching debut of Chip Kelly. It received national attention when Ducks running back LeGarrette Blount punched Boise State’s Byron Hunt as the teams were on the field afterward. Blount was shut down during the game. He carried eight times for minus-5 yards in the contest. He was suspended for eight games for the incident. The Ducks came into the contest pissed off by what they thought were some cheap shots by Boise State players the year before.  A 37-32 win by the Broncos in Eugene. Oddsmakers opened the Ducks as -5-point favorites versus the Broncos, while the game’s total opened at 63. The total has held steady, but the line has been bet up to Oregon as a 7-point favorite.

Boise Looks to Keep Momentum Going in Bowl after Slow Start

Last time out for Boise State, they were a 17-14 winner as they battled Fresno State Bulldogs at home. Boise State failed to cover in the match as a -9.5-point favorite, while 31 combined points moved the game UNDER for totals bettors. Boise State started the season 2-2. They rebounded to win eight of its final nine games. Quarterback Brett Rypien, nephew of former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Mark Rypien, engineered a 90-yard scoring drive late in the fourth quarter to pull out the win over the Bulldogs. This will mark the 16th consecutive bowl appearance for the Broncos. They won three straight Las Vegas Bowls from 2010-12 over Utah, Arizona State and Washington. Current head coach Bryan Harsin was the offensive coordinator for Boise State when it won the previous two meetings with Oregon. He is 4-1 as a head coach against Pac-12 opponents. Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch leads a stout Broncos defense that ranked 20th in the FBS against the run at 125.8 yards per game. They allowed more than 200 yards on the ground just once. Vander Esch was the Mountain West Defensive Player of the Year. Boise State will be challenged by an Oregon run game that ranked No. 8 nationally with 268 yards per game. The offense accounted for 40 rushing touchdowns.

Oregon has New Head Coach for Las Vegas Bowl

Last time out for Oregon, they were a 69-10 winner as they battled Beavers at home. Oregon covered in the match as a -25.5-point favorite, while 79 combined points moved the game OVER for totals bettors. Oregon will once again have someone making his Ducks head-coaching debut against the Broncos. Co-offensive coordinator Mario Cristobal takes over for Willie Taggart. Taggart departed for FSU two days after Oregon accepted the Las Vegas Bowl bid. Cristobal signed a five-year contract worth $2.5 million per season. He was a popular choice with Oregon players. They even took to Twitter to lobby for his promotion. The Sun Belt Conference Coach of the Year in 2010 compiled a 27-47 in six seasons at Florida International (2007-12) in his only previous head-coaching stint. He also became the first Cuban-American head coach in Division 1-A. The game could also serve as a coming out party for one of the early favorites in the 2018 Heisman Trophy race, Oregon quarterback Justin Herbert. The Ducks finished the regular season 7-5. They were off to a 4-1 start before Herbert broke his collarbone in a 45-24 victory over Cal on Sept. 30. The 6-foot-6 sophomore returned for the final two games. They were win over Arizona (48-28) and Oregon State (69-10). He wound up completing 113 of 170 passes (66.5 percent) for 1,750 yards, 13 touchdowns and three interceptions and also rushed for 166 yards and five touchdowns. Oregon was 6-1 and averaged 51.2 points in Herbert’s starts. That is compared to 1-4 and 15.0 points when he was sidelined.

Recent Form

Yards Per Rush

Boise State Broncos

Las Vegas Bowl Supergrid

Title	Stat	Rank	Stat	Rank
Away Team Overall Scoring vs Home Team Overall Defense	36.67	18	22.46	35
Home Team Overall Scoring vs Away Team Overall Defense	32.08	38	28.25	76

Head To Head Summary

Head To Head Detail

Las Vegas Bowl Betting Trends

Oregon Ducks
Oregon is 8-16-1 ATS in its last 25 games
The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Oregon’s last 7 games

Boise State Broncos
Boise State is 4-2 ATS in its last 6 games
Boise State is 8-1 SU in its last 9 games
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Boise State’s last 9 games

Oregon Ducks

Boise State Broncos

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