The Utes may be 5-0 right now, but one team that has always given them trouble in the Pac-12 is ASU.
Utah will play Arizona State this Saturday night at home. Beating the Sun Devils would not only give the Utes another win, it would also give them their first win against ASU since joining the Pac-12.
Last year when the Utes traveled to Tempe, they lost by just three points, 19-16, in overtime. Head coach Kyle Whittingham expects to see the same plays the Sun Devils always execute against them, but it will be up to his guys to show up.
“They’ve got a good scheme they haven’t deviated from,” Whittingham said. “It’s one thing to know what’s coming and what your assignment’s going to be. It’s another to execute, and that’s what we’re going to do.”
ASU is coming off a win against Colorado, but the team did drop a couple of games earlier in the season to Texas A&M and USC. Linebacker Gionni Paul believes that since those two games, the Sun Devils have gotten right back on track.
“They’ve had their ups and downs, but I believe they got their heads on straight and going to give us a game,” Paul said.
Whittingham is also looking over those two losses and thinks the Sun Devils are playing their best football right now, especially their front seven.
But it’s the defense that will have its hands full with ASU’s offensive line, which Whittingham thinks is the most important focal point of its team. Without those guys, Whittingham knows the quarterback and running back D.J. Foster would not be nearly as effective.
“Their offensive line is playing lights out, and that’s always been their strength,” Whittingham said. “They seem to be playing better this year than previous years.”
One thing on Utah’s offense that will need to improve from last week is its passing game.
Neither Whittingham nor Travis Wilson were satisfied with the way the senior quarterback played last weekend against Cal, and they know they will need to put in a lot of work to get it back to where it was earlier in the season. As much as they would like to, the Utes cannot continue to rely on Devontae Booker to lead the way. The passing game will be key in this Saturday’s game.
Looking back on last year’s loss, Whittingham regrets not throwing the ball as much as they should have.
“We are not real potent on offense unless we’re throwing the ball well,” Whittingham said. “It’s all great to have a tailback like Devontae, but we got to be able to throw to be a complete offense.”
With the team’s new No. 4 ranking, Paul likes being the team everyone is hoping to take down. Although the team embraces an underdog mentality, which many of them feel like they won’t be able to shake off for a while, they love being the top dog for once.
“We got to prep our behinds off this week,” Paul said. “I love being the one everyone’s gunning for. As a team, we love it, and we’re up for the challenge.”
Paul will be focusing on taking the ball away. In fact, he doesn’t think the defense played its best against Cal, despite the six takeaways. Now, Paul hopes the Utes can cause 10 turnovers.
“If we take some of the key players out, we’ll have a shot at winning the game,” Paul said. “We got to fly around and make plays.”
Kickoff from Rice-Eccles Stadium is scheduled for 8 p.m. MST.
@kbrenneisen