The Utah Utes will play its inaugural Big 12 conference game on Saturday against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. These teams have only played one time prior to this year’s matchup, with then-named Oklahoma A&M Aggies defeating Utah, 46-6, in Salt Lake City, on Oct. 20, 1945.
The similarities between these programs are much deeper than the fact both share a conference and have started the 2024 season with three straight wins.
Both have long-tenured head coaches, with Kyle Whittingham and Mike Gundy both in their 20th season at their respective schools. Only Kirk Ferentz, in his 25th season at Iowa, is a longer-tenured current FBS coach.
Additionally, both schools super senior starting quarterbacks, with 25-year-old Cameron Rising of Utah set to make his return from a hand injury to take on OSU’s 24-year-old Alan Bowman, who ranks among the top 10 in the nation in both passing yards and completion rate.
Let’s examine the announcers for the Utes vs. Cowboys showdown among Big 12 favorites.
Utah and Oklahoma State Announcers, Broadcast Details, and More
- Start time: 4 p.m. ET
- Channel: Fox, FuboTV
- Radio Stations: ESPN Radio (Sirius XM Channel 80), Cowboy Radio Network: Sirius XM Channel 162 or 198, The Varsity Network, Utah Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM or Sirius XM Channel 83
- Announcers: Jason Benetti (play-by-play), Brock Huard (analyst), and Allison Williams (reporter)
- Betting lines: Utah -2.5
- Over/Under: 52 points
- Moneyline: Oklahoma State +110, Utah -130
- Location: Boone Pickens Stadium, Stillwater, Oklahoma
Utah vs. Oklahoma State Game Preview
According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Utah (+250) and Oklahoma State (+475) are among the favorites to win the Big 12 title.
While the Cowboys are seeking their first league championship since 2011, Utah won the Pac-12 title in two of the past three seasons (2021, 2022). The Utes have won or shared a conference title in their first year in a new league three times before: 1938 in the Big Seven, 1948 in the Skyline, and 1999 in the Mountain West.
Utah is expected to have Rising back at quarterback for its Big 12 debut after he sat out last week’s 38-21 thumping of in-state rival, Utah State, because of a laceration on his throwing hand. In his seventh year with the program, Rising is in his fourth straight as one of Utah’s captains and is one of two Big 12 quarterbacks with at least seven touchdown passes without throwing an interception so far this season (TCU’s Josh Hoover is the other).
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Oklahoma State will also have an elder statesman at quarterback, with Bowman in his seventh season as an FBS signal-caller. Bowman transferred to OSU after three years at Texas Tech and another two at Michigan.
He will enter Saturday’s contest off possibly his best single game since arriving in Stillwater, completing 24 of 31 passes (77%) for 396 yards and five touchdowns in just three quarters of play against Tulsa. Bowman’s five passing touchdowns matched his career high and were tied for the most by any player against an FBS opponent this season.
Though Whittingham and Gundy have both enjoyed long tenures at their respective programs, Saturday will mark their first head-to-head meeting as FBS head coaches.
While Whittingham will seek his first Big 12 win, Gundy already has 102 of those to his name, ranking third in conference history behind only Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (121) and Kansas State’s Bill Snyder (104).
Gundy (169 at Oklahoma State) and Whittingham (165 at Utah) rank third and fourth, respectively, in terms of overall wins at their program among active FBS head coaches. They each trail only Ferentz (198 at Iowa) and Dabo Swinney (171 at Clemson) on that list.
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