Quarterback
After last week’s performance against TCU, can Utah fans really begin to question the play of senior quarterback Brian Johnson? Despite having numbers of 15 touchdowns and eight interceptions on the season, Johnson has proven over and over again that he can do the most important thing as a quarterback8212;win. Going 24-for-39 against the No. 2 defense in the nation is impressive. Not turning the ball over against the Horned Frogs is impressive. Orchestrating a miracle 80-yard drive was one for the ages. One of the few bright spots for the Aztecs has been redshirt quarterback Ryan Lindley. Lindley has thrown for 2,029 yards this season and gave the Notre Dame defense a run for their money earlier this season. Every other effort is toward building confidence for next season.
Edge: Utah
Running back
Luckily for the Utes, they won’t have to go up against the stifling TCU defense again until next season. Equally as fortunate for the Utes is the fact that they will be going up against SDSU, who gives up 273.9 rushing yards per game. Utah’s Matt Asiata and Darrell Mack, who currently sport 550 yards and 477 yards rushing respectively, will be licking their chops when going up against the miniscule Aztec defense. SDSU’s main rushing attack is spearheaded by Atiyyah Henderson, who leads the Aztecs with 391 yards rushing, including four touchdowns on the season.
Edge: Utah
Wide receiver
You can’t say enough about the play of Utah’s three senior wideouts. On the final drive against TCU, Brent Casteel, Bradon Godfrey and Freddie Brown were the only Utes to have receptions and it’s apparent that there’s a reason why. The leaders of the receiving corps got the job done in the two-minute drill alongside their quarterback. Brown had a game-high nine receptions for 105 yards and the game-winning touchdown with 48 seconds left on the clock against TCU last week. He leads the team with 568 yards receiving and five receiving touchdowns. For SDSU, the Aztecs are led by sophomore Vincent Brown and former quarterback-turned-receiver Darren Mougey.
Edge: Utah
Offensive line
If someone told you the Utes have given up more sacks than SDSU, would you believe them? Although it sounds criminal, it’s true. Utah has given up 22 sacks on the year, while the Aztecs have given up 21. But the truth does not always reside within the numbers. Most figured the Utah offensive linemen would have to play the game of their careers last week, and as it turned out, they did. Dustin Hensel held TCU’s Jerry Hughes, who leads the country in sacks and tackles for loss, without a sack last Thursday and the Utes gave up only two sacks on the whole night.
Edge: Utah
Defensive line
In a game that had so many twists and turns, a tremendously overlooked facet of the TCU game was the play of the Utah defense in the second quarter, most notably defensive end Paul Kruger, who sacked Horned Frogs quarterback Andy Dalton to take TCU out of field goal range. The front four of the defense were running at full speed the entire game. After the game, defensive tackle Greg Newman, who was exhausted, said he simply had nothing left. It’s apparent the Utah defensive line wanted to measure up to that of TCU’s. The Utes finished with four sacks on the game. SDSU’s B.J. Williams and Jonathan Soto are No. 4 and No. 5 on the team respectively in total tackles, with 65 and 53.
Edge: Utah
Linebacker
It was the same old, same old for Utah’s talented trio. Stevenson Sylvester led the team in tackles against TCU, Nai Fotu often lined up on the defensive line and Mike Wright did a respectable job spying on Dalton. Still, this talented and versatile group has yet to have a standout game as a crew. Fotu is known for his hard hits, Wright is a tackling machine and Sylvester is the total package. Wright and Sylvester are No. 1 and No. 2 on the Utes in total tackles. SDSU has a talented linebacker crew, headlined by Russell Allen and Luke Laolagi, who have 87 and 78 tackles on the season, respectively.
Edge: Utah
Secondary
The Utah secondary was picked apart at times by TCU, but when the game settled down, the big plays began to subside for the Horned Frogs. Texas natives Brice McCain and Joe Dale played a great game and made impressive open-field tackles, while Sean Smith’s first-half interception set up a crucial Louie Sakoda field goal to end the half. Robert Johnson laid the final dagger into TCU’s heart when he picked off Dalton with seven seconds left in the game, sealing Utah’s victory. The Aztecs give up an impressively low 192.1 passing yards per game, and are led by Corey Boudreaux, who has 87 total tackles on the year.
Edge: Utah
Special teams
Despite hitting two clutch field goals, Louie Sakoda said postgame that he should take the entire Utah defense out to dinner on the charge that his punting game was in a funk. Sakoda was not his usual, big-kicking self when back punting, but the cold certainly has something to do with that. Expect Louie to be booming kicks and punts this weekend in San Diego. David Reed and Casteel did a much-improved job returning kicks and punts. Reed makes very good reads and hits the hole very well, and Casteel actually turned a few punts into some positive yardage for Utah. For SDSU, Davion Mauldin has returned a kick for a touchdown and kicker Lane Yoshida is currently 8-for-10 on the season on field goals.
Edge: Utah
Coaching
Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham continues to leave the nation and opponents in awe. The fourth-year coach is being commended for his job with this “blue-collar” crew, as he refers to his 2008 Utes. No one really saw a 10-0 record in the books at this point in the season, but the Utes are just two victories from the improbable and that has everything to do with Whittingham. SDSU head coach Chuck Long is enduring a 1-9 season and, after having 70 laid on him against New Mexico, he emerged into the press conference a bit teary-eyed. Even though Long will be in his own backyard when the Utes come storming into SoCal, he likely won’t be back next year.
Edge: Utah
compiled by Christopher Kamrani