Time, Place and Airwaves • The Utes second road game of the season and Pac-12 Conference opener at Arizona Stadium gets going at 8:30 p.m. Friday. You can watch on FS1 or listen on ESPN 700 AM, Sirius 84/XM 84.
Line • Utah was a 3.5-point favorite as of Thursday.
Opposing coach • Rich Rodriguez is in his sixth season as Arizona’s coach. He has gone 38-30 since taking over in November 2011. He won the 2014 Pac-12 Conference Coach of the Year award. His overall record as a head coach is 158-114-2 with previous stints at Michigan, West Virginia, Glenville State and Salem University. He has gone 4-2 against Utah in his coaching career.
Utah ties • Arizona offensive lineman Maisen Knight is from Salt Lake City and played high school football at Judge Memorial High School where he was a team captain as a senior, a first-team 3A all-state selection and also lettered in lacrosse. The 6-foot-5, 279-pound sophomore played at Ventura College in 2016.
Pregame quotable • Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said this week’s game “will be the biggest match-up and the most critical to the outcome of the game, their run game against our run defense.”
Media guide nugget • Redshirt senior offensive lineman Gerhard de Beer, who is 6-foot-7 and 320 pounds, is attending Arizona on a track and field scholarship. He won the Pac-12 discus championship in 2015 and has also placed among the top four in 2014 and 2016 and placed fourth in the NCAA Championships in 2016. He has started all three games at right tackle this season.
Telling stat • In five games between the teams since Rich Rodriguez has taken over as Arizona’s coach, the Utes have allowed an average of 240.6 yards per game against Arizona.
FILE - In this Oct. 15, 2016, file photo, Arizona head coach Rich Rodriguez shouts during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Southern California in Tucson, Ariz. Stanford and Arizona were once teams with designs on winning their respective divisions. Heaidng into Saturday's game, their lone goal now is to become bowl eligible. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri, File)
Wildcats offensive outlook • Quarterback Brandon Dawkins finished fourth in the Pac-12 in rushing yards per game last season (94.4), and he ranked eighth in passing yards per game (134.8) while posting a 124 pass efficiency rating. Senior running back Nick Wilson had his year limited to five games in 2016 due to injuries. He started the season off with consecutive 100-yard performances against BYU and Grambling State. True freshman tight end Bryce Wolma didn’t have a catch in his first game, but had five catches against Houston and six against UTEP, including a touchdown. He has a team-high 11 receptions through three games to go with 79 receiving yards. He has stepped in for Trevor Wood who missed the past two weeks with an injury. The offensive line features six players with four starts or more each including 36 starts by redshirt right guard Jacob Alsadek and 28 starts by left tackle Layth Friekh. As a group thos six linemen have 105 career starts returning this season.
Wildcats defensive outlook • Arizona has played a lot of inexperienced players on defense so far this season. They have just three seniors listed as starters on their depth chart in defensive tackle Parker Zellers, linebacker Brandon Rutt, and defensive back Dane Cruikshank. Freshmen have accounted for nearly half (46 percent) of Arizona’s tackles. However, Arizona has forced multiple turnovers in four straight games. Linebacker Tony Fields II leads the team with 17 tackles while junior safety Demetrius Flannigan Fowles has three interceptions. He led the team with 59 unassisted tackles last season and finished with the second-most tackles on the defense (78). Fields is a 6-foot-1, 225-pound freshman from Las Vegas was a three-sport athlete in high school (football, basketball, baseball) and helped lead his team to a state championship as a senior.
Wildcats special teams outlook • Punt returner Shun Brown has two returns for touchdowns in three games. Brown has averaged 27 yards per return on five returns this season. Kick returner Tyrell Johnson has averaged 28.6 yards per return with a long of 58 yards. Punter Jake Glatting (38.2 yards per punt) has punted 10 times this season with just one of 50 yards or more and three downed inside the 20-yard line.
Injury report • The Utes could be without starting strong safety Chase Hansen for the second straight game. Hansen did not play last week against San Jose State due to an undisclosed injury. The Utes have a bye week next week, so it may make sense for Hansen to sit out this week and get three consecutive weeks of rest and recovery. Arizona linebacker DeAndre Miller’s status was also uncertain as he has not played yet this season after undergoing foot surgery in the offseason. Senior wide receiver Cam Denson has been a partial participant in practice and has been seen in a walking boot according to the Arizona Daily Star.
THREE BIG QUESTIONS
1. Will the Utes defense contain the Arizona running game?
The Wildcats haven’t played a defense as stout as the Utes, who come in with the second-ranked run defense in the nation. However, the Wildcats have rushed for an average of 328 yards per game, the sixth-highest total in FBS coming into this week. The Utes’ defense has held opponents to an average of 49.3 yards per game (1.66 yards per rush), the second-stingiest defense in FBS. The Utes have allowed just one rushing touchdown in three games.
2. Can the Arizona defense shut down Darren Carrington II, and how will the Utes adjust if it does?
Carrington has been a dominant figure in his first three games in a Utes uniform with 409 receiving yards and four touchdowns in three games. He goes into this weekend ranked fifth in the nation in receptions per game (8.7). He is the first Utah player with three straight 100-yard receiving games since Dres Anderson in 2013. Carrington’s 26 receptions are a little shy of double that of the team’s second-leading receiver Samson Nacua (14 receptions, 130 yards). If Arizona is able to limit Carrington’s impact, then Nacua, Raelon Singleton (six catches, 42 yards), Siosi Wilson (eight catches, 127 yards) and Demari Simpkins (six catches, 40 yards) will have to pick up the slack.
3. Which quarterback will impose his will on this game?
Both teams feature dynamic dual-threat quarterbacks capable of making game-changing plays in multiple ways. Utah sophomore quarterback Tyler Huntley ranks 14th in FBS in completion percentage (72.1), and he has accounted for 76 percent of Utah’s offensive yards through three games. He has averaged 289.3 yards passing and 70.7 yards rushing in his first three games as the starter. Like Arizona’s Brandon Dawkins, Huntley is his team’s leading rusher. Dawkins needs 46 yards to surpass Ronald Veal for the most rushing yards by a quarterback in program history. This season, Dawkins has averaged 83.7 rushing yards per game and five touchdowns. He has also completed 66.7 percent of his passes and thrown for 422 yards (140.7 yards per game) and four touchdowns without an interception.
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