On what is sure to be a sunny day in Salt Lake City, the Utes will welcome the Fresno State Bulldogs to Rice-Eccles Stadium tomorrow with an early kickoff set for 1 p.m.
Fresno State is coming off of a brutal 52-13 loss to No. 14 USC, in which the Bulldog defense allowed 701 yards of total offense and 37 first downs to the Trojans.
While the Bulldogs had a rough outing against nationally ranked USC, Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham was impressed with the Fresno State rushing attack, led by junior running back Marteze Waller.
“Fresno actually ran the ball very effectively against [USC],” Whittingham said. “They had a back who had just about 100 yards, and had about 160 yards rushing, which, against that [USC] front seven, is pretty darn good.”
Waller finished the game with 97 yards on 16 carries and scored both of Fresno State’s touchdowns against the Trojans. The Bulldog offense finished the game with 157 yards rushing.
Fresno State’s passing game did not fare nearly as well as their rushing game. The Bulldogs ran a two-quarterback system against USC, and neither quarterback was very effective on the day. Junior quarterback Brian Burrell went 11-for-19 passing for 92 yards and an interception, while senior quarterback Brandon Connette was even less effective, going 7-for-17 passing for 68 yards and three interceptions.
Whittingham has been adamant about his Utah team forcing more turnovers than in previous years, but the Utes were unable to force a turnover against Idaho State and lost the turnover battle on the night when Troy McCormick was charged with a fumble in the first half.
“That’s a huge negative,” Whittingham said. “I expressed to the team and the coaching staff that we’re going to have a very difficult time in the Pac-12 if that shows up in Pac-12 games. That was an Achilles heel for us last year. It really wasn’t the turnovers, one turnover is not excessive, but we’ve got to get takeaways, that’s the key. The defense has got to start taking the ball away.”
With Fresno State’s quarterback struggles, the Utah defense should be able to cause some havoc in the backfield and force some potential turnover opportunities. Junior linebacker Jason Whittingham is aware of the Utes’ takeaway struggles and says the defense is working on improving in that area every day at practice.
“Turnovers was a big thing that we’re going to have to fix against Fresno State,” Jason said. “Getting the ball out of the air, getting the ball when it’s on the ground, if we do those two things then we should have a good game.”
When it comes to the Utes’ offense, junior quarterback Travis Wilson will look to torch the Fresno State secondary like USC’s Cody Kessler did the week before. The Bulldog defense allowed USC to throw for over 424 yards and score four touchdowns through the air.
“I think what Cody Kessler was doing to them was finding guys that were open and taking easy throws,” Wilson said. “Their passing game was hurting that Fresno State defense and hopefully that’s something we can do as well.”
When asked about the offense’s new high speed attack, Wilson agreed with his head coach that rapid scoring drives are acceptable as long as the offense is moving.
“It’s our job on offense to score, and if that’s scoring quicker, then that’s what we need to do,” Wilson said. “It’s nice to get points on the board. We had a great two-minute [drill] at the end of the first half, that’s definitely something we’ve been working on, and we need to keep on doing it.”
The Utes have made some changes to their depth chart after their opening victory against Idaho State and in preparation for Fresno State.
Sophomore cornerback/receiver Dominique Hatfield is now listed as the co-starter at corner with Davion Orphey after showing the coaching staff that his defensive abilities were on par with his offensive skills, and Kaelin Clay has been named the starter at the slot receiver position after his breakout game in which he scored two touchdowns on special teams.
When asked about moving Clay into a starting role, coach Whittingham said it was a combination of his special teams skills and his work on the practice field as a receiver that made him award the starting nod.
“When the ball is in [Clay’s] hands, he’s dangerous,” Whittingham said. “He proved to us that he’s as advertised and very dynamic when he has the football.”
[email protected]
@TalonChappell