Following a humiliating loss to UNLV a week ago, many Utah fans were left wondering whom they had just watched.
Was that the same team that a week prior had sent shock waves throughout college football by embarrassing No. 11 UCLA?
Ute fans weren’t the only people who left Sam Boyd Stadium in Las Vegas in a haze of confusion last Saturday. Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham hardly recognized his team.
“We’ve got to find out who we really are,” Whittingham said. “We have both ends of the spectrum and we have to be consistent and find out why we are so hot and cold, in every aspect of the game.”
Everything that could possibly go right for the Utes did in their 44-6 upset of the Bruins. On the flip side, everything that could possibly go wrong for the Utes did against UNLV, and they were blanked for the first time since 1993.
The up-and-down play of the Utes begs the question: Which team will show up to play against Utah State tomorrow, Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde?
“It’ll be the good Utes this week, I promise you that,” said Utah quarterback Brian Johnson. “This team will be ready to play. We’ve got a lot to prove, so we’ve got to come out and play a great game and we’re going to do exactly that.”
The Utah coaching staff had wanted to hold Johnson out of the UNLV game, hoping that it would not need him to win. But when the Utes trailed 13-0 at halftime, Whittingham made the decision to put the junior into the game.
Although Johnson had not fully recovered from a separated shoulder injury when he played against the Rebels, the junior is expected to be almost fully recovered when the Utes take on the Aggies tomorrow.
“I’m hoping it’ll be way better than it was,” Johnson said. “It was probably around 80 to 85 percent during the UNLV game and you could tell with the velocity on some of my passes. It should be much better when we take on Utah State.”
Following a familiar theme with the rest of the season, the Utes lost a few more players to injury against UNLV. Defensive tackle Koa Misi suffered an open wound dislocation of his finger, free safety Robert Johnson dislocated his shoulder and linebacker Joe Jiannoni exacerbated his already sprained ankle. All three are expected to miss the game against the Aggies.
Jiannoni’s absence is slightly mitigated by the emergence of sophomore linebacker Stevenson Sylvester. The Las Vegas product recorded 14 tackles against the Rebels and will make his first collegiate start tomorrow.
“Stevenson Sylvester played the game of his life as a Ute to this point,” Whittingham said. “We expect more of that in the future and he will start this week against the Aggies.”
Sylvester will try to beef up a Utah run defense that has allowed 213.5 rushing yards per game this season. Most recently, the Utes allowed the Rebels’ Frank Summers to rush for 190 yards and two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the Aggies’ combination of Curtis Marsh and Derrvin Speight hasn’t amounted to much this year. Marsh leads the team with 37.2 rushing yards per game while Speight averages 25.5.
Possibly the biggest running threat on the Utah State offense is at quarterback, where the shifty Leon Jackson III has been escaping the pocket all year.
Jackson’s biggest receiving threat is Kevin Robinson, who has 19 receptions for 192 yards and one touchdown this year. The senior was named the WAC Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday after accumulating a total of 223 return yards against San Jose State. Jackson’s performance was highlighted by a 53-yard punt return and an 82-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
“Robinson is a good player,” Whittingham said. “He’s their leading receiver and is a good special teams guy. Right now, they’re kind of a power run team, but we’ve got to be well aware of Robinson at all times.”
Utah State has failed to win a game to this point, losing close contests to UNLV, Wyoming and San Jose State, as well as getting handled by Oklahoma.
With both Utah State and Utah desperate for a win tomorrow, the focus turns to which Ute team will show up.
“We’re going to count on the team that beat UCLA,” said Utah State head coach Brent Guy. “San Jose State was the same way because we didn’t know what team was going to show up there. So, we’re going to count on it being (Utah’s) best effort and expect anything to happen.”
Teresa Getten