Positive & Negative Takes from Ute’s victory over Arizona

Positive and negative takeaways from Utah's dominant victory over Arizona.

The Utes are winners of three straight after a dominant victory over Arizona this past Saturday, cementing themselves as a dominant force in the conference and completely unwilling to give up their reigning title just yet.

While injury woes continue to ransack the Utes with Dalton Kincaid sidelined and a long list of season-ending injuries piling up, Cameron Rising returned to the lineup and Utah's offense orchestrated an explosive performance. 

As for the Wildcats, Arizona entered the game on the back of a three-game losing streak. On the positive side they kept USC to within one score in a thrilling 45-37 loss. With no hope of reaching the Pac-12 Championship, Arizona was playing for pride. They did however boast the second best pass offense in the conference averaging 328 yards per game.

Positive - Pass Rush

JaTravis Broughton, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

The Utes pressured Arizona quarterback Jayden de Laura from the very start. De Laura looked uncomfortable in the pocket, often handing off the ball or being flushed out by Utah’s rushers. Arizona’s offensive line seemed full of holes all game long. Incredibly, Arizona managed to fumble the ball seven times with Utah recovering four.

Negative - Early Rush Defense

Arizona managed to rush for 109 yards in the first quarter, including a 57 yard rush that should’ve been a touchdown if Michael Wiley hadn't been ruled out of bounds at the half yard line. 

Fortunately for the Utah defense, Arizona switched up their offense to match their strength through the air after falling behind 21-7. However, the Wildcats finished just 15-30 through the air and only managed 45 rushing yards in the final three quarters.

Positive - Individual Performances

Zemaiah Vaughn - In addition to stellar punt coverage, Zemaiah Vaugh was also responsible for three tackles and three broken up passes. Coach Whittingham said of Vaughn, “that was absolutely his best game as a Ute. He was making play after play and he’s a very talented kid… for a former quarterback that’s only been playing corner for a couple of years now, he’s really doing a nice job.”

Jonah Elliss - Elliss seemed to positively impact the game whenever he was on the field. His performance included two forced fumbles, a solo tackle, 0.5 sacks and 0.5 tackles for loss. “Jonah was all over the place,” Coach Whittingham said, “He’s a terrific athlete and I’m convinced if we decided he could be a great middle linebacker, that’s how athletic and fast and agile he is… he’s really a valuable commodity for our defense.”

Nate Johnson - True freshman Nate Johnson was brought in as a “creative way to provide spark” according to Coach Whittingham due to the lack of healthy running backs and Dalton Kincaid missing out. “He is the fastest kid on the team… he’s got blazing speed,” Coach Whittingham said. 

Utah Utes quarterback Nate Johnson (13) celebrates a touchdown against the Arizona Wildcats in the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

Johnson was brought in on three rushing plays. The first two in the red zone were converted each for a touchdown. It is still unknown whether Johnson will be utilized for the rest of the season or be redshirted.

Positive - Offensive Line

The offensive line deserves a huge round of applause. Utah came in with a game plan to run the ball and did just that. With the rain disrupting the teams for most of the game the Utes decided to keep the ball close to the chest on 55 out of 80 plays for 306 yards. 

“Nobody rushes for over 300 yards without the offensive line controlling the line of scrimmage” Coach Whittingham said.

Questionable - Cam Rising

I won’t say that Cam Rising had a negative impact on the team this week. As Coach Whittingham put it, “It’s great to have [Cam] back. He wasn’t as sharp as he usually is… he’s still not completely 100%”. 

During warmups and throughout the game Cam was wearing a brace on the left knee. Although Utah rushed 55 times on the night, Cam did so only twice, losing seven yards in the process. Not the usual running performance we see from him. On top of that, Cam went 13-25 for 151 yards and a touchdown. Several passes were either broken up by Arizona’s defense or the receiver was overthrown. Cam was seen lining up at wide receiver on a few wildcat package plays. 

Should Cam play in the last home game of the season against Stanford? Or should he be rested in preparation for the road trip to Eugene against Oregon who remain undefeated in the Pac-12?

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