The No. 13 Utes moved up three spots in the most recent AP Poll after their bye week. They used the extra days off to get rested and rejuvenated for this final stretch of the season and head coach Kyle Whittingham is hopeful some injured players will be able to return to the field.
Utah is expecting Marcus Williams and Cory Butler-Byrd to be back in action on Thursday night against the ASU Sun Devils. Whittingham cannot say for sure whether or not the two of them will be playing, however.
“We’re hoping they’re all available and it will be right down to the wire on a couple of them,” Whittingham said. “We’re pretty confident Marcus will play and Cory as well. But we’re three days out and I can’t say definitively.”
Last season the Sun Devils were picking up on some of Utah’s play calling, but the Utes aren’t too worried about what’s happening over on the other sideline. They are instead focusing on what they can do to win the game.
“It’s just like anything else — you’re tipping your hand whether it be by signals, by formation, by personnel groups, you got to be leery for all that,” Whittingham said. “It’s not their job to not try and get an edge.”
Drawing attention from the NFL
Senior running back Joe Williams didn’t start off the year on the best foot. He was benched, removed from the depth chart and subsequently retired for 27 days. Since returning to the team, Williams has take over the offense.
Williams has rushed for 662 yards in the past three outings for the Utes, and Whittingham has a hard time describing what Williams has meant to this team the past month.
Williams has been excelling so much that he is now on the radar of many NFL scouts. Although this is something Williams couldn’t fathom happening at the beginning of the season, let alone when he was retired, and when he was just getting back into the groove of things for the Utes, he is thankful for every opportunity thrown his way.
“I still have a lot more to do,” Williams said. “I’m a humble person, and the camera in my face isn’t something I always wanted, but I guess if I keep doing what I’m doing it’s not going to go away.”
Three game season
The Utes only have three more games in the regular season. They will face ASU on Thursday night, Oregon on Saturday, Nov. 19, and close out the season against Colorado on Saturday, Nov. 26. A theme among the coaches and the players seems to be taking one game at a time, which is pretty standard for this Ute squad, but they have amped it up to a different level.
The Utes are looking at each game as their own Super Bowl. Although they are aiming to play in a higher level bowl game than they have the past two seasons, they’re trying to focus on one opponent at a time.
“We got the mindset that we got a Super Bowl each week,” Williams said.
@kbrenneisen