Utah started its season out right, but things have since gone south.
The Utes (4-4, 1-4 Pac-12) started out 4-2 and had a massive 27-21 upset of then-No. 5 Stanford at home. After that win, Utah dropped its next two contests to UA and USC.
Utah has been struggling on offense, and in their last two games, the Utes have averaged only 265 yards while committing six turnovers.
“We gotta get back on track offensively; that’s been a problem for us the last couple of games,” coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Job one is to get some offense generated and cut down on the turnovers as well.”
Turnovers have been a thorn in the side of Utah’s offense. The Utes are second to last in the Pac-12 in turnover margin at minus 7.ASU, on the other hand, is good at forcing turnovers, ranking third in the conference in turnover margin at plus 6.
While the Utes' offense has not been good, one thing Utah has been good at is getting after the opposing quarterback. The Utes rank second in the Pac-12 in sacks with 27. However, getting after Sun Devils’ redshirt junior quarterback Taylor Kelly will be difficult.
“It’s very difficult, because they do such a great job with their play-action pass game, which is a big part of what they do,” Whittingham said. “They make it very difficult for the defensive linemen to get a good pass-rush because of the way they sell the run.”
In order to stop the play-action passing game, the Utes will need to shut down ASU’s running game. The Sun Devils average 190.2 yards rushing per game.
Senior running back Marion Grice leads the Sun Devil rushing attack with 671 yards on the ground. Grice is also the nation’s leading scorer, averaging 13.5 points per game.
“They run the ball extremely well, just about 200 yards a game, and you’ve got to respect the run,” Whittingham said. “When you’re playing a team where you’ve got to respect the run, it makes rushing the passer that much harder, because when they mix in that play-action pass, it freezes that D-line for a split second.”
But it’s not all bad news for the Utes as their starting quarterback, sophomore Travis Wilson, returns from injury this week.
“We’re grateful that he’s back,” Whittingham said. “It’s been a long couple weeks without him being at full strength, so if we’re going to be competitive, we need him to return to the level that he was playing at before he got injured.”
Reach the reporter at ejsmith7@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EricSmith_SP
