Statistical Comparison of the 2009 Las Vegas Bowl: #20 Oregon State vs. #14 BYU

This is the only bowl game outside of the BCS games that features two top 20 teams and only the third of the non-BCS to be between ranked teams.  This should be a very good matchup, because first of all Oregon State was a few points away from defeating Oregon and going to the Rose Bowl. 

On the other hand BYU is making their fifth straight appearance to the Las Vegas Bowl.  Last year BYU only practiced a few times and did not take their practices or in fact the game all that seriously.  This time seems to be different because the opponent is a high quality one with 20th ranked Oregon State.  Also, a win by BYU could vault them to the top 10.

Now on to statistically break down and blindly judge who is going to win this game:

Category			Edge
Scoring Offense	34.8 PPG	32.4 PPG
Rushing Offense	148.17 YPG	144.17 YPG
Passing Offense	288.8 YPG	275.3 YPG
Total Offense	436.9 YPG	419.4 YPG
Penalties	66 YPG	56.4 YPG
Scoring Defense	21.7 PPG	23.4 PPG
Rushing Defense	112 YPG	114.25 YPG
Passing Defense	219.1 YPG	238.7 YPG
Total Defense	331.1 YPG	352.9 YPG
Turnovers Lost (Season)	22	8
Turnovers Margin	-.08 per game	.50 per game
Third Down Conversions	55.48%	47.31%
Third Down Defense	38.95%	35.95%
Red Zone Offense	87.50%	96.30%
Red Zone Defense	80%	82.50%

Very surprised how much more categories that BYU is ahead of Oregon State.  The reasoning could be that the Pac-10 was a tougher league then the Mountain West this year.  This should be one of the better bowl games of the season.