Third Set for Bowl Games.

The Maaco Las Vegas Bowl: Oregon State vs. BYU (Brigham Young University)

This is an interesting matchup. Yet gain, the ten win BYU finds itself matched up against whatever PAC-10 team gets stuck in this game. This year it happens to be a pretty good Oregon State team, whose offense features the best pair of brothers in the country, James and Jaquizz Rodgers. While Oregon State will provide a good competition for BYU, the fact is that this is BYU’s fifth consecutive visit to Vegas and that will be the difference. Vegas is the kind of place you can’t really prep for, you just have to experience it and BYU has done a lot of that. BYU pulls out the win in a high scoring affair.

Prospects to Watch in this Game

BYU, Defensive End, Jan Jorgenson: While he doesn’t have the typical off-the-snap quickness that most teams want in a DE, he has shown good consistency over the course of his career and good effort. He also had a fairly good game early in the season against one of the top tackle prospects in Trent Williams in their early game against Oklahoma. He’s a late round prospect, but has good value in those late rounds.

BYU, Quarterback, Max Hall: While a little on the short size, he has excellent accuracy. His arm strength is questionable, but his experience and maturity is a major plus. A good value pick late and projects as a solid backup.


BYU, Runningback, Harvey Unga: A great power back who has been able to provide consistency in the running game. Like most players coming from BYU there will be questions about how much the system has inflated their numbers, but he has great value as a big back who is very complete. Probably a late round prospect.


BYU, Tight End, Dennis Pitta: This is likely the best prospect coming out of this program this year. He reminds me a lot of Dallas Clark or Dustin Keller. He has great athleticism and very soft hands. He will have trouble adjusting to the blocking and the in-line play in the NFL, but he has his use as a playmaker in long situations.


Oregon State, Defensive Tackle, Stephen Paea: A underrated junior prospect, he dominated the interior line during the game against Oregon, just couldn’t be seen because Oregon kept running to the outside. Has great leverage, quickness and power, he was the second most dominate defensive tackle I had seen this season. A tad undersized, he’ll get the attention he deserves next year, if he returns.


Oregon State, Quarterback, Sean Canfield: Has been tremendously accurate, but has a limited number of starts. As a later round prospect, he should have good value due to his accuracy and arm strength, but could become overrated on the basis of his workouts and viewed as needing less development than he actually needs, a la Mark Sanchez.