What do the Wildcats face when trying to take down the Utes again?
After another frustrating loss to the UCLA Bruins, the Arizona Wildcats will head to Salt Lake City to take on the Utah Utes. The Utes are coming off a tough loss of their own against Cal in Berkeley. This is a pivotal game for both teams as the Pac-12 South race heats up.
Utah will enter this contest ranked 24th in both polls, and opened as nine-point favorites in Vegas. Here’s a quick look at the Utes so far this year:
2016 Record – 4-1 (1-1)
Key Games – Week two win versus BYU 20-19, Week four win versus USC 31-27, Week five loss at Cal 23-28
Key Offensive Players – Troy Williams (QB), Zack Moss (RB), Tim Patrick (WR), J.J. Dielman (Center), Andy Phillips (PK)
Key Defensive Players – Lowell Lotulelei (DT), Dominique Hatfield (CB), Reginald Porter (CB), Pita Taumoepenu (DE)
Last year, Utah was a bit of a surprise with their 10-win season. They won their first six games and climbed as high as third in the rankings. The second half of their season was a much different story, though. After that 6-0 mark, they finished the season 4-3 including their win over BYU in the Las Vegas Bowl.
This season, they are again one of the more surprising stories in the conference. They lost an incredible amount of offensive production in Travis Wilson (QB), Devontae Booker (RB), Kenneth Scott (WR) and Bubba Poole (WR). Also, standout freshman Britain Covey (WR) has temporarily left the team while he completes his LDS Mission.
Coach Kyle Whittingham likes to dominate the line of scrimmage and establish the running game. Booker and Wilson combined for 1,751 yards on the ground last season, which was good for more than 73 percent of their rushing yards.
The passing game relied heavily on Covey, Scott, Booker and Poole. These four combined for 143 receptions and 1,439 yards, which accounted for nearly 64 and 62 percent of the team’s respective totals!
So you’re probably asking yourself, “How in the world are they 4-1?” There are theories such as a soft non-conference schedule and a down year for the Pac-12. These may be valid, but I think the biggest reason is quarterback Troy Williams.
Williams is a former Washington Husky and transferred to Utah from Santa Monica College. He is a legitimate dual-threat, which fits right in with the conference. Through the first five games of the season, the Utes have a combined total of 2,153 passing and rushing yards, and he has accounted for more than two-thirds of it.
It appears there is a more balanced approach to the offensive scheme as Utah has opted to pass 169 times versus 217 rushes. The 2015 Utes were more run-heavy, running the ball approximately 62 percent of the time as opposed to 56 percent this season.
Another advantage for Utah is Whittingham will almost always put stout defensive linemen on the field. As I mentioned earlier, he loves to dominate the line of scrimmage, which applies to both sides of the ball. He is doing it again this year with players like Lowell Lotulelei, Pita Taumoepenu and Filipo Mokofisi. Their scoring defense is ranked 20th in the country with 18.2 points allowed per game.
Lotulelei is nursing a shoulder injury that was suffered during the USC game. His availability against UA is undetermined but it’s safe to say Whittingham has solid backups ready in the wings.
The Utes haven’t had much luck against Rich Rodriguez-coached UA teams as they’re 0-4. Arizona will be playing as Utah’s homecoming opponent, so the stadium energy should be extra high. However, this is a winnable game for the Wildcats. We’ll see how the backfield situation shakes out during the week but definitely winnable as Whittingham usually has a tough time defending Rodriguez’s scheme.
Saturday’s game is set to kick off at 7 PM PT on Fox Sports 1.