Utah is coming off a bye week, following the encouraging win in Provo over BYU. Washington, on the other hand, is coming off four consecutive hotly contested games. Utah is 2-1. Washington is 3-1. Utah beat an FCS school handily though not impressively and demolished a struggling BYU team on the road. Washington eked out a win against an in-state FCS opponent, fought off a furious second half comeback by Hawaii, and defeated Cal with a solid second half effort on the defensive side of the ball. Utah lost a heartbreaker at USC after a potential game-tying field goal was blocked on the last play of the game. Washington gave up momentum in their loss at Nebraska with a special teams blunder of their own.
Utah comes in with a rushing attack that has fared well through three games, averaging 171 yards per game. Washington brings in a more polished passing attack, averaging 246 yards per game. Neither team has been particularly successful stopping the pass this season, though part of that can be explained by schedule and circumstance. Utah faced Matt Barkley of USC, one of the 5 best NFL prospects at the QB position and played a desperate BYU team that threw the ball nearly 50 times because of their huge deficit. Washington faced pass-happy Eastern Washington and Hawaii, and even Cal threw 10 times more than they ran against UW. Utah has the better of the run defenses, though Washington isn't too shabby giving up just 126 yards per game (including a game against Nebraska where the Huskers ran the ball 55 times).
Utah should be quite fresh coming off a bye week on the heels of a blowout win. Utah's entire team (except for kickoff coverage perhaps which had a very busy day in Provo) should be rested and well-prepared to face Washington with that time. Though the young secondary has been a weak part of the team, K-Whit and Sitake Kalani should be able to develop a gameplan to stop fellow former Cougar Steve Sarkisian's O. Their familiarity with the offense that Sarkisian was "raised on" should give them a chance for a good gameplan. Keith Price is still a young QB, and without the greatest of rushing attacks to lean on, Utah's blitz packages should have him a bit confused.
Washington is battle-tested, having played in four tough games, winning three of them. How much will the effort expended to this point, and the altitude, play into the game should the decision be in doubt in the fourth quarter? My guess is that Washington's best chance is to get up early and maintain. That may be a tall task for a young team to pull off in front of a fan base that will be jacked up for its Pac 12 opener, coming off the big win against BYU. I suspect we'll get a sloppy first quarter, with emotions running high before one of the team settles in and pulls out a somewhat easy-looking W.
My money would be on Utah being that team. With the extra rest and time to prepare, they should be able to put together a good enough effort in the secondary to keep Price and the UW passing game in check. Huskies WR Jermaine Kearse has been a bit disappointing in his senior year thus far. Perhaps playing Utah's man coverage defense will be just what he needs to get him going, but only if Price has time to get rid of the ball. RB Chris Polk is off to a good start, though I think he'll have a tough time breaking the 100-yard barrier against Utah's energized front 7. It'll take a big day from Price and Kearse to steal one in Salt Lake City. In a year where the North should dominate the South in the Pac 12, I look to Utah to get the South a much-needed W, in a game that could pit the 3rd place teams from each division against each other. I've got Stanford, Oregon, then Washington in the North, with Arizona State, USC, and Utah as the top half in the South.
Utah's ground game and defensive effort should carry them on Saturday against Washington. Utah fans should recognize that you can't score 54 every game (most teams won't turn the ball over 7 times), and be happy with a mere 31 against Washington, in a 31-17 win over the Huskies to get their first Pac 12 conference win. This sets up a big showdown against Arizona State next weekend! The winner of that game should be in a great position to win the South (especially if it's ASU, which would own wins over USC and Utah already). And just a quick shout out to my brother and mother: Mush Huskies! I don't think your team stands a chance in Salt Lake City on Saturday, but still, you're my blood, so I have to throw you a bone!
No comments:
Post a Comment