First Look Utah

[ANGCatFan]

Berk with the AZ Daily Star's early preview of Utah.

Matchup vs. UA: Saturday, Nov. 22

Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium

Last year’s record: 5-7

Projections: The general thought on the Utes is this: Whittingham’s team isn’t in the cellar of the league with Cal and Colorado, but they’re closer to them than the Pac-12’s elite like Oregon and UCLA. Phil Steele, The Sporting News and Lindy’s all project Utah to finish fifth in the Pac-12 South behind UCLA, USC, Arizona and Arizona State. Most are also in agreement that what could hold back Utah this season is its schedule. The Utes play road games against Michigan, UCLA, Oregon State, Arizona State and Stanford, which at the moment, looks like five losses. Utah also has to host USC, Oregon and Arizona. Lindy’s summed up Utah, still a Pac-12 newcomer, this way: “Turning the tide will be an ongoing challenge as Utah adapts to the higher level of competition.”

Three names to know

Quarterback Travis Wilson: The junior has battled injuries during his time at Utah, but no one has questioned his ability. The 6-7, 240-pound signal-caller almost had to retire from football because of an injury to an intracranial artery.

But in late June, Wilson finally received medical clearance to return and will open the season as the starter. In nine starts last year, Wilson threw for 1,827 yards, 16 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. He also rushed for 386 yards and five scores.

Wide receiver Dres Anderson: In a league full of top-notch receivers, Anderson, the son of former NFL player Willie “Flipper” Anderson, is certainly among the elite. The senior led Utah last season in receptions (53), yards (1,002) and touchdowns (seven). The speedster is a playmaker, who also returns kicks for Whittingham’s squad. Arizona was one of the few schools that managed to shut him down last season, holding Anderson to just three catches for 29 yards.

Safety Brian Blechen: The senior missed all of last season with a knee injury, and the Utes will be glad to have him back this season. Blechen started 35 games his first three seasons and was named to four freshman All-America teams in 2010. In 2012, he was honorable mention All-Pac-12 and had 58 tackles and five pass breakups. He will anchor a secondary that returns two other starters and should be a strength for the Utes.

Three numbers to know

130.3: Despite Carey’s success against the Utes, Utah ranked 20th in the nation last season, giving up just 130.3 rushing yards per game.

4.1: Utah returns its leading rusher from a year ago, Bubba Poole, who averaged 4.1 yards per carry. He finished the year with 607 yards on 149 carries.

8: Phil Steele ranks Utah’s schedule as the eighth toughest in the country this season.

Different than last time

They’re healthier. Wilson’s injury woes last year started during Utah’s game at Arizona.

The quarterback left in the first half against the Wildcats after he suffered an injury to his throwing hand. That was one week after he led his team to an upset win over Stanford. After Wilson got hurt, the Utes were never the same. Utah also had to deal with Blechen’s injury and several other bumps and bruises. If the Utes can stay healthy — like they are right now — it will help dramatically.

[ASUHATER!]

i think utah will be better, but that schedule is brutal. @michigan, @asu, @ucla, @stanford plus usc and oregon and us? they'd probably be happy going 2-5 in those 7 games.

they could be alright, but that schedule just screams 5-7 or 6-6 (maybe 7-5)

[jollything]

Wow that is one brutal schedule. Also, this game scares me.... just a little.

[Sage&Silver]

They get a bye before Michigan, and it feels like one they could win. That game could be huge for UU. Hopefully it won't conflict with the UA game. Feels like a noon-eastern to me.

[azpenguin]

That schedule looks like something Stoops would have gone through in his first few seasons. Pretty damn brutal.

[azthrillhouse]

Wow that is one brutal schedule. Also, this game scares me.... just a little.

Where it lands in the schedule scares me.

It's plausible that we could come into that game with as few as two losses. Week before would hopefully be a nice win over UW at home, so we could be coming in to that game feeling really good about ourselves and looking forward to finally beating the Scummies (and having an outside chance of winning the South if we do). It's late enough in the year that cold weather is a very possible factor. Utah will be looking for something to hang their hat on. Their last home game of the season.

Yeah I can easily envision throwing sh*t at the TV on November 22.

[jollything]

Wow that is one brutal schedule. Also, this game scares me.... just a little.

Where it lands in the schedule scares me.

It's plausible that we could come into that game with as few as two losses. Week before would hopefully be a nice win over UW at home, so we could be coming in to that game feeling really good about ourselves and looking forward to finally beating the Scummies (and having an outside chance of winning the South if we do). It's late enough in the year that cold weather is a very possible factor. Utah will be looking for something to hang their hat on. Their last home game of the season.

Yeah I can easily envision throwing sh*t at the TV on November 22.

In a season prediction thread here or on scout, my thought was that we go 1-1 in the Wash/Utah games,for the exact reasons you've listed. I just wasn't sure if Wash would clip us at home or a tougher than we think roadie in Utah. WSU proved last year AZ can be caught sleep walking. I hope these guys are ready when it comes to those 2 games late in the season, because those games could be the difference between and 8, 9, or 10 win season.

[Zona_Soccer10]

Utah scared me last year, and the feeling doesn't get any better now. They will be much improved, and they will be battle tested. As we've learned, no game is a "gimme". Especially after last year, we beat Oregon and turn around and lose to Washington State. You have to play the game. If we play a full game start to finish, there's no reason to think this can't be our year. We have talent across the board.