The Beavers look to upset the No. 7 University of Southern California Trojans this Saturday inside of Reser Stadium, something that they are familiar with doing.

Oregon State versus USC is not one of the biggest name rivalries when it comes to the college football realm, with USC leading the matchup 63-12-4 entering Saturday’s game, but for USC, the Beavers have stood up to the team from warm sunny Southern California a handful of times before.

Most recently, the Beavers traveled down to Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum last season and defeated the Trojans 45-27, a showdown that propelled the Beaver’s confidence moving forward in their season that landed them in a bowl game for the first time since 2013.

Twelve years prior, Beaver football legends Jacquizz and James Rodgers led Oregon State in an upset win versus No.1 USC, ruining the undefeated Trojan’s chances at a national championship bid.

1967 and 2000 were the two other times where Oregon State entered a game against the Trojans as an underdog, only to win the game, propel their season and ruin USC’s chance of any national accolade.

All of this background between the two teams has led the majority of Caesars Sportsbook bettors to strongly favor the hosting Beavers’ chances at covering the spread against the Trojans.

Founded in 1934, Caesars Sportsbook started as one of the largest casinos in Las Vegas. 

Currently, the state of Oregon does not allow online bets to be placed through the Caesars Sportsbook, although this will change if Senate Bill 1503, which allows sports betting on college sports in the state of Oregon, were to pass.

As of September 22, 64.3% of all tickets handed out to bettors were placed on the Beavers’ spread and 88.2% of all money placed on the game was in favor of Oregon State. With Oregon’s sports betting laws in place, all of that money is being placed either online from other states, or in person from the Caesars Sportsbook in Las Vegas.

Having none of the money placed on the Beavers coming from the state of Oregon, the question at hand has to be why are people so confident in Oregon State’s chances against the powerhouse of the Trojans?

Both teams enter the matchup 3-0, and according to ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Beavers have a 30.6% chance of winning the game while the Trojans are favored with a 69.4% chance of winning.

USC has a Heisman-caliber quarterback, sophomore Caleb Williams, who has thrown for 874 yards and 8 touchdowns so far this season. Williams tends to find his favorite receiver, and nationally ranked the No. 1 receiver in the nation when he was at the University of Pittsburgh the prior season, junior Jordan Addison, who has hauled in 18 catches for 295 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Trojan’s first three games.

Oregon State’s quarterback, junior Chance Nolan, has thrown for 746 yards and 7 touchdowns so far this season, finding a wide array of receivers. The Beavers rely heavily on their run game over their pass game. Starting running back, junior Deshaun Fenwick, has carried the ball 38 times for 204 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The spread for the game was set at USC -6.5, OSU +6.5 and the Over/Under is set at 70.5, meaning that the Sportsbook is assuming the Trojans will win by one touchdown, or that the Beavers will lose by at least one touchdown. Vegas predicts both teams to collectively score 71 points. 

The Oregon State and USC matchup has more money on the Oregon State spread alone than any of the 16 NFL Week 3 games, and over three times more money on the Oregon State spread alone than any other college football Week 4 game.

Vegas is assuming that the Beavers are going to put up a fight against the Trojans, possibly taking into account the history that exists between the two programs. And with the sold-out crowd for Reser Stadium this Saturday, the Beavers look to upset another ranked USC team.