Utah Opens Pac-12 Play at Arizona State

Non-conference play is now behind us with Utah's dramatic win over BYU.  It's time to begin the race for the Pac-12 South, which may be easier than everyone expected with USC taking an early loss to Stanford.

Utah opens the Pac-12 schedule with a road game at Arizona State.  The Sun Devils surprised many with a good start to the season, despite having a new quarterback and head coach in Todd Graham. They opened the season with dominating wins over Northern Arizona and Illinois, winning each by an average of 44 points.  They are coming off a close loss at Missouri, falling 24-20 on the road.

Arizona State's strength this year has been their 24th ranked defense, allowing under 300 yards per game.  They have a dominant secondary that ranks No. 1 in the country in interceptions with seven in three games and ranks in the Top 10 in passing yards allowed.   Their biggest weakness on defense has been stopping the run, allowing 148.3 yards per game.


Jon Hays looks much improved this season but he'll be tested by the Sun Devil's defense. Last year the Sun Devils defeated the Utes 35-14 with Utah committing five turnovers in one of Jon Hays' worst career games where he threw three interceptions. Utah will have to avoid making mistakes to avoid a second straight loss to Arizona State.

The hopeful return of John White a strong performance by Utah's offensive line will be key to winning this game.  Last week against BYU, the Utes rushed for only 49 yards, which will not cut it with the Sun Devils strong secondary.  Kyle Whittingham said in his press conference he expects John White to be back on the field.

Offensively, Arizona State runs a spread attack and have been fairly balanced on offense, passing for 250 yards per game and rushing for 203.3 with multiple running backs. 

"They are a good football team. They had a big win over Illinois and were right in the game against Missouri," Kyle Whittingham said. "They have a spread attack offense - 3-4 wide receiver sets, a mobile quarterback, like the spread offense we have faced so many times. Defensively they bring pressure. They have athletes all over the place, and the thing that stands out the most is their speed and athleticism across the board."

The Utes will need to put the emotional BYU victory behind them to focus on the Sun Devils.  This will be one of the toughest challenges the Utes have faced this season and they are coming into the game as a seven point underdog.  Expect a low scoring game with two strong defenses leading the way.

The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network at 8 p.m.  Head down to the Union West Lawn to watch the it at Game on the Green with free food and prizes.