The University of Utah football team is heading into the final stretch of games for the 2020 season. Before finding out who they will play next week, the Utes will face off against Colorado for the annual “Rumble in the Rockies”. Both teams will be on a short week with this year’s game falling on a Friday night.

Scouting the Utes: 

Ranking: N/A

Record: (1-2, 1-2 Pac-12)

Last Week: W vs Oregon State, 30-24

Last week the Utes finally got in the win column after taking down Oregon State at home, 30-24. The Utes nearly put together a full 60 minutes worth of football,  even with the offense struggling a lot in the fourth quarter of the victory. 

True freshman Ty Jordan is continuing to make a name for himself, rushing for 167 yards and scoring his first touchdown as a Ute in the victory. Brant Kuithe led the team in the receiving column with 76 yards. Britain Covey had his long-awaited comeback game, scoring his first touchdown in two years through the air and also posting another touchdown on a 64-yard punt return. 

Quarterback Jake Bentley statistically had his best game as a Ute last Saturday going 18-27 for 174 yards. He also had his first game without an interception versus the Beavers. 

The Utah defense showed up and showed out on Saturday with Devin Lloyd leading the charge. The junior didn’t lead the team in tackles, but he did have a forced fumble, two TFLs and an additional sack. JT Broughton led the team in tackles with nine. He also had one pass break up. Vonte Davis also recorded his second interception of the season versus OSU. 

Ty Jordan was named the conference’s freshman of the week on Monday evening. Kicker Jadon Redding was named the conference’s specialist of the week after going 3-3 on his field goals and also being perfect on his PATs. This is the first time both athletes have won an honor from the conference. 

Kyle Whittingham on the Buffs: 

“Good football team. Undefeated, 4-0 and they are doing some good things. Their quarterback is a fifth-year senior and is doing a nice job running the offense, their tailback is productive. They have a solid O-line, solid receivers. Their defense is doing good things, primarily an even front, sometimes a two-thirds even front with one-third odd front. They play zone pressure and they are doing a good job with their zone blitzes. Good defensive end, good linebacker so they got a lot of things going for them right now and they are 4-0 so what can you say, they’ve been taking care of business.”  

Scouting the Buffaloes: 

Ranking: No. 21/22

Record: (4-0, 4-0 Pac-12)

Last Week: W vs Arizona, 24-13

The Buffs are one of only two undefeated teams in the entire Pac-12 conference. Last week they took down Arizona 24-13. Quarterback Sam Noyer was 12-19 for only 92 yards and had two interceptions in the win. Dimitri Stanley was Noyer’s favorite target with 44 yards on two receptions. 

While the CU passing game was struggling at times, the rush game was able to get things done. Jarek Broussard had 301 yards on the ground but couldn’t find the end zone. Noyer had one rushing touchdown, but Ashaad Clayton had two rushing TDs last week. 

On the defensive side of the ball, the Buffs were led by Nate Landman, who had 16 total tackles, one sack and 3.5 TFLs. Carson Wells had four TFLs in the victory. Nigel Bethel Jr. had the lone CU interception. 

How to watch: 

The game will be broadcast nationally on FS1 on Saturday, Dec. 12 with kickoff at 10 a.m. MST on Fox with Joel Klatt, Gus Johnson and Jenny Taft. Fans can also listen to the game on the Home of the Utes, ESPN700 with Bill Riley and Scott Mitchell. 

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