As Utah continues to fight for bowl eligibility, they will face one of their tougher road tests of the season at Washington. The Utes can only afford to take one more loss, needing to win two out of their next three to reach six wins. The Utes haven't won on the road this season, but they will have The MUSS Bus in Seattle to support them.
Washington has been one of the most inconsistent teams in the country. Some weeks, they have looked great with wins over No. 14 Stanford and No. 11 Oregon State. Other weeks haven't been as good with a 52-17 loss at Arizona and a 21-13 come from behind win against Cal.
The Huskies are led by QB Keith Price and a future NFL tight end in Austin Seferian-Jenkins. The Huskies passing attack hasn't been great this season only averaging 200.7 yards per game, but Seferian-Jenkins ranks No. 1 among all tight ends with 70.2 yards per game on the season.
"He's a tremendous receiving tight end. No one has really had a great answer for him. We have some players who we hope will be decent matchups," said Kyle Whittingham in his press conference. "Trevor Reilly is 6'5" so that might be a decent match there. Brian Blechen is 6'2"-plus so we've got some guys with size in the back and at linebacker. He's a guy he's got a knack - even when he's not open, they throw it up and his basketball background comes into play with his receiving ability, particularly in traffic, he's got to go up and get the ball."
The Utes hope momentum and the progress of Travis Wilson will help carry them through a road win in front of The MUSS members that are making the trip. Whittingham said Wilson is still looking for a road win after a (0-2) start.
"The next step is a signature road win, and I think this is a great opportunity," Whittingham said. "I think that's the next step not only for Travis but for our football team. That's something we need to shoot for and achieve."
It's beginning to sound cliché, but when John White rushes for 100 yards the Utes have never lost, and when John White is held under 100 yards the Utes have never won. Expect the Utes to get him the ball quite a bit in the tough road environment at Century Link Field. Washington ranks 11th in the Pac-12 in rush defense so expect Utah to take advantage of that.
If you're not traveling to the game on The MUSS Bus, you can watch the game on the Pac-12 Network on Saturday night at 8:30 p.m. You can also watch the game at Game on the Green at the Heritage Center on campus.
Follow @MichaelRueckert and @TheMUSS on Twitter.
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