Quarterback
For two minutes and 11 seconds on Oct. 2, Brian Johnson was impeccable. His ghastly three-quarter performance was suddenly made obsolete. Anytime you originate two drives within the two minute mark8212;while your team is down eight8212;only to rise from the ashes of despair to the air of sweet victory, it says something about your ability. Johnson went 7-for-8 on his final two drives that entailed 91 yards and a touchdown. How much more Jekyll-and-Hyde can Johnson be? The answer is not much. The three stooges that are Wyoming quarterbacks Dax Crum, Karsten Sween and Chris Stutzriem have thrown two touchdowns this year8212;combined. They have also tossed for a combined 11 interceptions, six coming from Crum. The quarterback situation right now in Laramie, Wyo., is about as warm as this weekend’s forecasted weather.
Edge: Utah
Running back
One positive for Cowboys fans is they have Devin Moore and Wynel Seldon. The potent duo has rushed for a combined 861 yards so far this season, 582 coming from the 5-foot-10-inch senior Moore. Luckily for Wyoming, it has athletes in the backfield that negate the circus show it has had lining up under center. Moore and Seldon are more than capable of breaking open-field tackles and running a clinic on a defense that isn’t ready. The bruising Utah tailbacks, Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack, rushed for a combined 97 yards in last week’s win over Oregon State. The duo is separated by a mere 10 yards in total rushing yards gained. Asiata is at 373, while Mack holds 363 yards to his name. Expect Asiata and Mack to be pounding away.
Edge: Even
Wide receiver
By simply looking and comparing the numbers of the Utah and Wyoming wideouts, you can see several similarities. The Utes have five receivers with more than 100-yard receiving, the Cowboys have three. The devil is in the details here. Utah has 1,447 total receiving yards, while Wyoming has 608. Thanks to clutch performances by seniors Brent Casteel (324 yards so far) and Bradon Godfrey (302 yards) the Utes left Rice-Eccles Stadium victorious Oct. 2 against Oregon State.
Wyoming wideouts, keep your chins up. Maybe one of your musical quarterbacks will hit you in the numbers.
Edge: Utah
Offensive line
Utah is second tier to Wyoming in an alarming stat. Utah has given up 16 sacks for 112 yards, while Wyoming has given up 14 sacks totalling losses of 78 yards. The Beavers got to Brian Johnson too many times. They rattled him, forced him to make impromptu plays and flushed him out of the pocket. Luckily for the Utes, the Wyoming defense is not the Oregon State front seven. Utah must go into this week thinking a giant goose egg on sack stat line. While the Utes will have an easier time this week, the Wyoming offensive line will have its hands chock-full trying to ward off the Utah rush all day.
Edge: Even
Defensive line
What a night the Tasmanian Devils had in their last game. Defensive ends Paul Kruger and Koa Misi were all over the Beaver backfield. While Kruger was standing atop a fallen Jacquizz Rodgers most of the night, Misi was busy disrupting OSU quarterback Lyle Moevao, tipping two passes and earning a couple of sacks. Kruger is currently in the top five in the nation in tackles for a loss. The Wyoming front four is led by defensive tackle Fred Givens, who has 30 tackles so far this season, alongside juniors John Fletcher and Mitch Unrein.
Edge: Utah
Linebackers
How ’bout Mike Wright? In a game that many expected Stevenson Sylvester to dominate, Wright stepped into the spotlight with a career-high 15 tackles, including a sack and two pass breakups. Sylvester and Nai Fotu were also superb in defending against the OSU offensive attack. We have yet to see this impressive and tremendously talented trio each play an outstanding game at the same time. Maybe they have Nov. 22 circled a couple times. The Cowboys feature an impressive trio of linebackers to boot: Gabe Knapton, Ward Dobbs and Weston Johnson are Nos. 2, 3 and 4 on the team in tackles.
Edge: Utah
Secondary
One thing the back four for the Utes needs to improve on this week? How about the play action? OSU’s Lyle Moevao had a heyday against the talented and experienced Utah secondary with his play-action calls. Moevao chucked for 303 yards last week, quite a bit compared to the miniscule 167 yards that Michigan had in the season opener. Look for safeties Robert Johnson, Joe Dale and Terrell Cole to have at least one interception against the antsy Cowboy quarterbacks. If there were one player on Wyoming’s roster that deserves devout recognition, it would be free safety Chris Prosinski. He leads the team in tackles (51), interceptions (two) and forced fumbles (six).
Edge: Utah
Special teams
It’s starting to get old tabbing Louie Sakoda as the best kicker in the conference, but week in and week out he leaves everyone no choice. His three-field-goal performance against OSU that included a tie-breaking 37-yarder as time expired left Rice-Eccles Stadium in pure pandemonium. Fans rushed the field, hoisted Sakoda and cheered his name, certainly sealing his role as Utah’s go-to guy. Terrell Cole and David Reed did what they needed to once again. Reed almost took one to the house. Look for him to get through some gaps this weekend in Laramie. Kicker Jake Scott and punter Austin McCoy are good special team players, but as mentioned before, they aren’t Sakoda.
Edge: Utah
Coaching
Cowboys head coach Joe Glenn predicted a victory last year; he left Salt Lake City with a 50-0 spanking, flipping a “bird” toward U head coach Kyle Whittingham after Whittingham went for an onside kick while up 43-0.
“I guess Coach Glenn knew something I didn’t,” Whittingham said after last year’s win in regard to Glenn’s prediction.
Despite a snowy forecast Saturday, expect a heated battle between the two teams this weekend.
Edge: Utah