The Utah football team is preparing for its final game at Rice-Eccles Stadium this season against the Oregon Ducks.
The Utes will honor the 24 seniors on the team ahead of Saturday’s game, and with it being the final game in Salt Lake City for those seniors, head coach Kyle Whittingham is expecting all his players to step up for those leaders.
A good portion of this year’s seniors were on the team when the Utes went 5-7 in 2013, so Whittingham loves seeing how much they have progressed in the four years they have been with the program. In addition to that, he is thankful for what they have been able to do for the Utah football program as a whole. Whether or not they win, Whittingham knows they will have each other’s backs.
“These guys support each other from start to finish and that’s a trademark of a very good football team,” Whittingham said. “They support each other and don’t place blame.”
Although the Oregon Ducks are not having a season that is more or less on par with its previous years of success, Whittingham is expecting the Ducks to give it their best effort on Saturday afternoon.
Last season, the Utes travelled to Eugene, Ore., and they handed the Ducks a 62-20 loss. Whether or not revenge is on Oregon’s mind, both the Utah offense and the Utah defense are preparing just like they would for any other game.
The Utes are looking at these last two games as two “Super Bowls,” because there is a lot on the line for Utah. If the Utes win their final two games of the season, they will advance to the Pac-12 Championship game. However, if they drop either of their final two games against the Oregon Ducks or the Colorado Buffs on Nov. 26, they will barely miss winning the Pac-12 South for the second year in a row.
Troy Williams stepped up his game last week against ASU. He threw for 296 yards and had four touchdowns. Joe Williams added 181 yards on the ground and Whittingham is excited to see how this multi-threat offense can perform in the final two games of the season.
“Troy bounced back after a couple of performances where he wasn’t quite as accurate as he wanted to be,” Whittingham said. “He took care of the football and it was great to see that happen. Troy is our leader on offense. He’s the quarterback and he makes us go.”
Troy Williams hopes that he can rival his performance from last week as well. He knows that he can trust his receivers to go up and grab any balls he puts out there. He also wants to get this Saturday’s win for the seniors, even though he has only gotten to know them this year.
“Those are the guys who were here for those 5-7 seasons,” Troy Williams said. “They started off with this foundation and it’s been great what they have been able to do for this program and all the time and power they put into the team.”
With it being Hunter Dimick’s final game in Rice-Eccles, he wants to make sure he doesn’t miss a beat for the defense.
“[Fomer defensive coordinator] John Pease, last year one thing he said was a sack is a result of 11 people doing their job,” Dimick said. “If linebackers and corners don’t cover, we can’t get there in time. And if we don’t get there in time, the linebackers and corners don’t cover very well, so it’s a team effort.”
Game time is set for 12 p.m.
@kbrenneisen