Quarterback
The honeymoon officially ended for Brett Ratliff last weekend, as he and the Ute offense stumbled against UCLA, scoring just 10 points and the senior signal-caller managed to complete just 13 of 31 passes. Meanwhile, his talented backup Tommy Grady was in for one series, tossing an interception that was returned for a score and turned the momentum permanently in the Bruins’ favor. But while NAU’s Jason Murrietta had a solid performance against ASU last weekend, he has been erratic throughout his career-and Ratliff still has his two starts last year as plenty of evidence of what he can do.
Edge: Utah
Running Backs
Mike Liti and Darryl Poston will probably both get more carries than they did last week, as head coach Kyle Whittingham and his offensive staff look to take advantage of a strong offensive line and a running game that was successful in limited action last week. NAU, meanwhile, is still searching for its running game, managing just 53 yards on the ground last weekend, as the passing game did most of the work.
Edge: Utah
Receivers
As if last week’s disappointing performance wasn’t bad enough, the Utes’ receiving corps also lost the services of preseason all-MWC wideout Brian Hernandez, whose deep quad contusion will keep him out of Saturday’s ballgame. Without him, Braden Godfrey-who turned heads during camp this season-will likely get the start as the U passing game looks to get back on track. Northern Arizona, on the other hand, already knows what its passing game is like-just get the ball to Luke Watson. The 5-foot-10 junior wideout was a Sun Devil killer last week, registering 11 catches for 206 yards.
Edge: Even
Offensive Line
The U front line was a bright spot last week, protecting Ratliff for most of the afternoon as he wasn’t brought down all day. The line also opened up a few holes for Mike Liti. This week, the U linemen will be going up against Northern Arizona’s three-man front, a group that gave up 4.5 yards per carry last week. The Lumberjacks’ line gave up nine sacks last week and, despite returning four starters from 2005, has a lot to answer for.
Edge: Utah
Defensive Line
Neither line put much pressure on their opposing quarterbacks in their season openers, as Utah failed to get to the quarterback even once, while the Lumberjacks registered just one sack. However, the Utes-led by Kelly Talavou plugging up the middle-did get the job done in the running game. They held the Bruins to just 2.6 yards per rush and kept Chris Markey-an honorable-mention all-America pick this preseason-from breaking the big one.
Edge: Utah
Linebackers
With Steve Tate’s injury forcing Casey Evans to spend more time in the secondary at free safety, impressive freshman Stevenson Sylvester will see a lot more playing time this weekend. Sylvester shot up the depth chart during training camp, providing the U coaching staff with plenty of options for how to toggle its lineup should injuries come up. With Kyle Brady now getting healthier, the U linebacking corps expect to start to look like the group people expected. The linebackers are also the Lumberjacks’ strong suit, led by Chris Hunsaker and D.J. Wade.
Edge: Even
Secondary
Both groups had a weekend to forget last weekend. Utah was dominated by Ben Olson and Co.; likewise for NAU’s defensive backs against Rudy Carpenter. Still, the Utes boast the best and most versatile defender in the conference in Eric Weddle-provided the team uses him to the best of his abilities. Casey Evans was an all-conference pick at free safety last year and returns to that spot Saturday in lieu of Steve Tate.
Edge: Utah
Special Teams
Louie Sakoda was one of the few positives the U coaching staff took from last week’s loss, and earned MWC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts. His punting and field-goal kicking have been strong throughout camp, and Ben Vroman was more than solid on kickoffs. NAU punter Rhian Madrid was one of the best in the nation last season, while kicker Robbie Dehaze missed both of his field-goal tries against ASU.
Edge: Utah
Coaching
Public opinion seems to change from week to week for Ute fans during football season. When the Utes struggled through their three-game losing streak last year, many laid the blame at the hands of the coaching staff; but after victories over BYU and Georgia Tech, Whittingham and Co. were hailed as geniuses. It was more of the former last week, as an uncreative offensive gameplan and lack of commitment to the running game made the Utes easier to figure out for the UCLA defense. For the Lumberjacks, head coach Jerome Souers has taken the program in the right direction since taking over the program in 1998, but has fallen on hard times as of late, going 7-15 over the last two seasons. Perhaps last week’s impressive, hard-fought loss to the Sun Devils was proof that NAU is back on the rise again.
Edge: Even