Tough test for Sun Devils
No. 17 Arizona State visits No. 13 Utah today for a 3 p.m. football game that has major implications in the Pac-12 South title chase. Both teams are 5-1.
No doubt the Utah football team has had Oct. 19 circled on its schedule for awhile.
It’s the day the No. 13 Utes get a chance to avenge last season’s 38-20 loss to Arizona State in Tempe. Quarterback Tyler Huntley went down with a season-ending broken collarbone. Running back Zack Moss went down in that contest as well and he goes into this contest just 55 yards away from setting the school’s career rushing record.
The loss put a crimp in the Utes Pac-12 South division hopes although Utah later went back atop of the heap when the Sun Devils lost at Oregon.
The teams will square off again at 3 p.m. Saturday at Utah’s Rice Eccles Stadium. As usual, much is at stake. No. 17 ASU and Utah, both 5-1 overall and 2-1 in
conference play, are among four teams tied for first in the South. The others Arizona and USC - will also face off on Saturday.
ASU has made a habit of playing in close games with 13 of 19 in the Herm Edwards era decided by a touchdown or less. That includes the last four games, with ASU coming off a 38-34 win over Washington State. Odds makers aren’t giving the visitors much of a chance with ASU a 14-point underdog.
“These guys are a really good football team. I think they were picked to win the whole (league) and I can see why,” ASU coach Herm Edwards said.”It’s a veteran-laden group, they’ve played together for a while. And this is going to be tough going there, on the road. It’s going to be probably under 60 degrees it sounds like. Our guys haven’t dealt with that. “
ASU has gotten the better of Utah on other occasions, too. The Sun Devils are 22-8 against Utah all-time, although the Utes have won six of 10 on their own turf.
Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, the longest-tenured coach in the conference, knows the ASU personnel well. He recruited both freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels and junior running back Eno Benjamin, with both making official trips to Utah and Daniels including that school in his final four.
Whittingham sees ASU as a foe that may not be flashy, but does what it needs to get by.
“There’s no real glaring statistical number that is just off the charts. They are just doing what they need to do to win week in and week out,” Whittingham told the Utah media earlier this week. “They did a number on us last year, beat us up pretty good, so we’ve got to try to find a way to be better this year. They are a complete team and they don’t beat themselves.”
While ASU has played in close games and notched two road wins over ranked teams, Utah has had only one challenge. The Utes are coming off a 52-7 win over Oregon State and its five wins are by an average margin of 27.4 points. The Utes have not played a team with a winning record, with the lone loss to a 3-3 USC team.
The veteran-laden Utah team returns seven starters on each side of the ball. The biggest matchup could be in the trenches with a seasoned Utah defensive line led by seniors Leki Fotu and Bradlee Anae going up against an ASU offensive front that features two true freshmen.
The Utes are giving up just 52.8 yards per game on the ground which ranks them second among all FBS schools, but offensive coordinator Rob Likens expects yardage to be tough to come by, much like it was earlier this season against another top run defense in Michigan State.
The Sun Devils will be starting the same front five for a fifth week so some progress has been made.
“We’re a little bit physically behind where we were last year with the young guys, because no matter how many times you look at it, (former ASU offensive linemen) Quinn Bailey, Casey (Tucker), those guys were four years in a college weight room,” Likens sad. “When you’re really, really strong, you’re really really confident that you know a guy can’t run you over on a bull rush.”