Preview: No. 7 Utah vs. UCLA

Battle for Pac-12 South supremacy comes to Rice-Eccles on Saturday

With three weeks left in the regular season, No. 7 Utah is running out of opportunities to impress the college football playoff committee. The Utes’ best chance would come in the Pac-12 championship game, where they’ll meet No. 6 Oregon and the winner will have a great chance to advance to the CFP.

But to get to that point, to even play the Ducks, Utah (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) must first go through UCLA (4-5, 4-2 Pac-12) on Saturday night — kickoff is set for 6 p.m. from Rice-Eccles stadium in Salt Lake City.
This is a big game in the Pac-12 South standings, with both the Utes and Bruins being the only two teams to control their own destiny. Winning out by either team will designate them South division champions where they will likely face Oregon, who has a stranglehold on the North.

“They’ve got some momentum (being) on a three-game win streak,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said of the Bruins. “They are starting to figure out who they are and are settling in. … They are a very confident team, at least it appears that way, when you watch them play. It is a team that controls its own destiny in the South just like we do, so it should be a great matchup.”

As Whittingham noted, UCLA is playing well of late, having won four of its past six games including victories over Washington State, Stanford and Arizona State. UCLA’s offense has been the key to success in the conference, as the Bruins are averaging 43.5 points in their victories and just 24 points in the losses.

November 2, 2019; Pasadena, CA, USA; UCLA Bruins running back Joshua Kelley (27) celebrates his touchdown scored with tight end Devin Asiasi (86) wide receiver Ethan Fernea (36) and offensive lineman Christaphany Murray (76) during the second half at the Rose Bowl. 

In conference play, the Bruins lead the Pac-12 in points per game and rushing yards per game, believing they will be the tougher team on the field come Saturday night. All you have to do is ask UCLA wide receiver Ethan Fernea, when last week he said, “Utah's known for being a tough team, but I think we're ready to go out and show we're the tougher team.”

This bodes well for a Utes defense when someone is going to challenge them physically, considering Utah has the nation’s No. 1 rush defense, surrendering just 56 yards per game. That unit has been sensational over the past five games, giving up 10.2 points per game while getting turnovers to give its offense more chances to score.

Speaking of offense, the Utes finally feel comfortable with what they have late in the season.

Everyone knows how great Zack Moss is at running back, averaging 103.5 yards per game on the season, but the real reason to be excited is quarterback Tyler Huntley.

With Huntley’s massive progress this season, Whittingham has zero fear airing the ball out or putting the game in his quarterback’s hands.

Huntley leads the Pac-12 in QBR (182.46, which ranks 5th nationally), completion percentage (73.8-percent, which ranks 5th nationally) and yards per attempt (10.8, which ranks 3rd nationally). Also, his 11:1 TD-to-INT ration is second in the Pac-12, behind Herbert's 12:1. It should also be noted that Huntley's current QBR would set the conference single-season record, beating Oregon's Marcus Mariota during his Heisman season in 2014.

Get yourself a QB like @_SNOOP1.

He’s one of 16 semi finalists for the @daveyobrien award! pic.twitter.com/lqYtMbaOJQ

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) November 13, 2019

Saturday’s matchup will give the winner the inside track to the Pac-12 South division — and Utah will finally have a chance to prove its November woes are behind it.

“We just feel like we are going to get everyone’s best shot, but I don’t think that is different from other years,” Whittingham explained. “We go into the game thinking that the opponent is respected and don’t overlook them. I don’t think that has been a factor this year.”