Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utes aspirations for a Pac-12 South division championship took a step back last week following a heartbreaking 19-16 overtime loss to Arizona State.
"It was a tough, physical game down in Tempe and in the end ASU was able to make one more play than us to get the win," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Regardless, Utah has already easily surpassed even the most lofty preseason expectations, becoming bowl eligible just seven games into the season. And with four games remaining, there is still plenty to play for, including a better bowl matchup and even the outside shot of still competing for a south division title.
But the road ahead won't be easy — the Utes next opponent is the No. 4 Oregon Ducks.
Here are 10 things to know about this week's matchup:
- Kickoff between the No. 4/5 Oregon Ducks Ducks (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) and the No. 17/20 Utah Utes (6-2, 3-2) is set for 8:05 p.m. MT with a national telecast on ESPN with Brad Nessler (pxp), Todd Blackledge (analyst) & Holly Rowe (reporter).
- No. 17/20 Utah (6-2, 3-2 Pac-12) vs. No. 4/5 Oregon (8-1, 5-1)
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 8
- Time: 8:00 pm MT
- Site: Salt Lake City
- Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,807/FieldTurf)
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: ESPN700 AM and Sirius 92/XM 193
- Series Record: Oregon leads 19-8
- Last Meeting: 2013 (Oregon 44-21)
Oregon leads the all-time series 19-8, including an 8-4 advantage in Salt Lake City and an 11-4 edge in Eugene. After back-to-back Utah wins in 1991 and 1994, the Utes have dropped five of the last six contests, with the lone win during that stretch coming the last time the two teams played in Salt Lake City in 2003.
- Oregon's last trip to the Beehive State ended with a Utah 17-13 win in 2003. Saturday's game marks just the second conference meeting between the two schools.
- For the fifth straight week, Utah leads the nation in total sacks (39) and sacks per game (4.88). Nate Orchard's 12 sacks is the most by a Ute in a season since 1999 and is tied for fifth in school history. Orchard is tied for second in the nation in sacks per game (1.5) and total sacks (12.0 for 72 yards)
- Twenty-four of Oregon's 56 touchdowns this season have been scored by freshmen - the most of any team in the FBS. True freshman RB Royce Freeman leads the Pac-12 and is eighth in the nation with 13 rushing touchdowns, which also marks the most by a true freshman in Oregon history.
- Some depth chart changes for the Utes this week: Travis Wilson and Kendal Thompson are listed as co-starters, while Isaac Asiata will move from right to left guard and Salesi Uhatafe will start at left guard.
- Marcus Mariota continued his streak of passing touchdowns with two in Oregon's 45-16 win vs. Stanford. The junior has thrown at least one touchdown pass in all 35 games of his career, totaling 89 scores through the air.
- Utah running back Devontae Booker needs just 10 yards to become the 12th 1,000-yard rusher in school history. Booker, the second-leading rusher in the Pac-12 at 123.8 yards per game, has 183 carries for 990 yards (5.4 average) and eight touchdowns.
- Of Oregon's 54 drives resulting in touchdowns this season, 28 (51.9 percent) have lasted two minutes or less. Six other drives have lasted two minutes and 15 seconds or less. Oregon's most time consuming drive this season lasted 6:31 on the team's final drive against Michigan State Sept. 6. Last season, of Oregon's 74 drives resulting in touchdowns, 49 (66.2 percent) lasted two minutes or less.
- Utah's special teams this season has been, well, special. Utah leads the nation in net punting (44.42 yards) and is No. 6 in punt return defense (3.00). Midseason All-American Tom Hackett leads the nation in punts inside the 10-yard line (14) and leads the Pac-12 Conference in punts inside the 20 (23), percentage of total punts inside the 20 (44.2%), punts of 50+ yards (18) and total punt yards (2,443). Hackett ranks third nationally and second in the Pac-12 in punt average (47.0). Midseason All-America punt returner Kaelin Clay leads the nation in punt return average (22.4) and is the only player in the country this season with three punt returns for touchdowns and four total returns (1 kickoff) for a touchdown. Utah ranks No. 2 in the nation in punt return average (19.44) and No. 6 in kickoff return average (26.13). Andy Phillips, a two-time Lou Groza Star of the Week, ranks second in the country in 40+ yard field goals (11-of-13) and is 17-of-20 overall. He is tied for third in the country in field goals per game (2.13).
- A staple of Oregon's blur offense in recent years has been "explosion plays" of 25 yards or more from scrimmage. The Ducks have 41 this season through nine games, including three vs. Stanford last Saturday. Fourteen of those plays have resulted in touchdowns. On the flip side, the Utes have accounted for 20 plays of over 25 yards, six rushes and 14 passes.
