Fifth-ranked Utah will face No. 23 Cal on Saturday night after a week of rest at home, and all eyes are on Salt Lake City. The last time the Utes played, they beat Oregon on its home field, and they hope some of this play will transfer over to Rice-Eccles Stadium this weekend, despite the game being two weeks ago.
With plenty of events centered around this Homecoming game, most notably ESPN’s College GameDay, head coach Kyle Whittingham knows that even with all this noise, his team will keep its eyes on the prize.
“Each person individually has to be able to say, ‘Hey, there are things that I got to focus on,’ and think, ‘I got to take care of business,’” Whittingham said.
Although Cal’s run game could pose a problem for the Utes, they are not paying too much attention to this aspect of its game. Utah is most concerned with Cal’s quarterback Jared Goff.
Whitingham believes Goff could be the first quarterback taken in next year’s NFL draft, and he’s not the only one. Goff gets the ball out of his hands faster than most at his position, and he is usually on-target. The Utah defense will have its hands full attempting to stop the Bears from running up the score.
“He’s [Goff] a tremendous talent,” Whittingham said. “You got to try and do something to slow the throw game down, and that’s what makes them go, and they do a decent job running the ball. They’re doing a great job scoring points.”
Part of what makes Cal a threat is its defense. Wide receivers coach Taylor Stubblefield is preparing his players to handle anything that’s thrown their way.
“They’re a stingy defense,” Stubblefield said. “They find ways to make opposing offenses make bad decisions.”
This is exactly what Whittingham sees in the Bears. Cal’s defense does a good job of taking the ball away, having recorded eight fumble recoveries and 10 interceptions so far in 2015.
While Whittingham knows his offense will have to protect the ball in order to win, just as they have been doing this year, the defense will have to do its part in trying to take the ball away from Cal’s offense, too. Covering the wideouts and pressuring Goff to either make a bad pass or take a sack are essential for a Ute victory.
“No one’s really had an answer for their offense,” Whittingham said. “He’s a savvy quarterback — he’s intelligent. He’s very good at deciphering coverages and blitzs.”
Utah quarterback Travis Wilson is aware he will need to be near-perfect if it comes down to a shootout between the two. He’ll continue to work on what he has all season and because of the week off, Wilson feels much more rested.
“It’s my job to make smart decisions and not throw reckless throws and just do my part and throw accurate balls to the wide receivers,” Wilson said.
The entire country is excited to watch this game between the Utes and Golden Bears, simply to see if the Utes are legit. Can they compete with the best of the best? That is yet to be seen, but Whittingham believes all of this national attention can have a positive effect on his team.
“[GameDay] adds a bunch of energy,” Whittingham said. “It’s an honor to have those guys to come into town, and if you handle it the right way, it gets some buzz for your team. We try to operate the same way regardless of who we’re playing, regardless who’s on campus, home or away. We try to stay consistent in our approach.”
Whittingham is going to keep reminding his team, however, to block out all the unnecessary noise.
“This week is almost like a biosphere, a dome,” Whittingham said. “You got people tapping on the glass and looking at you. You just gotta block it out and not let it be a distraction.”
@kbrenneisen