#10 WASHINGTON (1-1) @ UTAH UTES (2-0)
TONIGHT, 7 PM
RICE-ECCLES STADIUM, Salt Lake City, UT
TV: ESPN
RADIO: KOMO
LINE: UW -6
The Washington/Utah rivalry has heated up in the past couple of years, simply because Utah is a good football program, and also the last three meetings have been very close games.
Before that, the Huskies had their number every time they ever played the Utes and led the series, 7-0. Then 2015 came the Huskies lost by one point in a very controversial game at Husky Stadium in which most onlookers felt they were “jobbed” by the refs.
The Huskies would return the favor the following year on their march to a Pac-12 championship, beating Utah at Utah on a late game punt return from Dante Pettis to the house. Many Ute fans thought there were illegal blocks that didn’t get called, and this time they were “jobbed” by the officials.
Then last season it all came down to a last second field goal in Seattle for the Huskies to take the overall series to (now) 10-1 against the Utes.
It’s never easy to travel to Rice-Eccles and beat the snot out of a Kyle Whittingham-coached Utah team, but both the Huskies and Utes and have been the subject of a lot of fan criticism after their first two outings — although Washington’s first opponent was Auburn, rather than Weber State.
Utah beat Weber State to open their season but then had a boring showing against Northern Illinois on the road last weekend. Both Whittingham and Husky coach, Chris Petersen talked about “cleaning stuff up”, and “needing to play better” when talking to the media this week.
We already talked about the keys to a Husky win in an article earlier this week, so we can take a quick look at who to keep on eye on for the Utes and to be wary of if you’re a Husky fan.
DEFENSE
On defense, the Utes have allowed an average of 81.5 yards per game in two games, and allowed an average of 62 yards per game passing. But they weren’t playing very prolific offenses so this should come as no surprise.
The guys to keep a close eye on are senior linebackers Chase Hansen and Cody Barton. Both are tied for most tackles in two games (16 a piece) and both played against Washington already in their careers.
In last year’s meeting, the Huskies did have a lot of success running the ball and passing, but special teams were a problem early on for the Huskies.
In two games, the Ute defense has held teams to an average of eight points total.
OFFENSE
The obvious guys to watch out for are quarterback Tyler Huntley and tailback Zach Moss. But also be aware of receiver and return-man, Britain Covey.
Last season the Utes put up 410 yards of total offense against the Huskies (the Huskies put up 477) and the Husky defense was stout throughout most of the game, but one thing the Utes have is real good kickers. However, there were some real snafus in the kicking game in games one and two so far this year — whether that’s a trend or not for the Utes is yet to be seen.
So far, Moss has 216 yards for the season and Covey has 208 receiving yards.
Huntley was sacked six times against Northern Illinois — thus the complaining of fans and Utah sportswriters alike for playing “flat and uninspired”.
FINAL THOUGHTS
[icon name=”angle-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] The Huskies are in no position to pittle around in this game. They need to win this to prove that they weren’t overrated to start the season. They need to play with urgency and not let the loud black-out crowd at Rice-Eccles get into their heads. Of course, the scene they went into at Atlanta against Auburn makes the Utah crowd look like a high school football crowd, but still — there’s no room for error.
[icon name=”angle-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””] Man-for-man, Washington fields a lot more talent against Utah, but they have to play with authority in a game like this.
[icon name=”angle-right” class=”” unprefixed_class=””]There’s a good reason why Utah hasn’t been ranked yet, and it’s because they haven’t proven much against a ranked team yet or a team of any kind of substance. They want to be respected, and Washington needs to remember that they have a big target on their backs in this regard for the Utes. The Huskies need to be the “bully” and go in and play like the “bully”.
PREDICTIONS
The Huskies play a close game (again), but in the second half the running backs take over and wear Utah’s defense out.
Ruth Robbins: Washington 34 Utah 24
Kyle Waltos: Washignton 27- Utah 17
