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SALT LAKE CITY — It has been a rough two weeks for the Utah football team.
First the Utes lost a heartbreaking road contest against Arizona State. That was followed by a game against Oregon that seemingly everything went against the Utes, but somehow they kept it close at the start of the fourth quarter, only to get routed by the Ducks in the final minutes.
"As many things that went wrong, it was 30-27 in the fourth quarter and really were playing well until the game got away from us at the end," Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham said.
Next up for Utah is a road trip to Stanford in which the Utes will try to snap its first two game losing streak of the season.
"What's glaring with [Stanford] is that they are playing exceptional defense," Whittingham said. "They are leading the league in just about every defensive category - total defense, rushing defense, passing defense, pass efficiency defense, scoring defense - you name it, they are on top of the league."
- No. 23/25 Utah Utes (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) at Stanford Cardinal (5-4, 3-3)
- Date: Saturday, Nov. 15
- Time: 3:00 pm PT (4PM MT)
- Site: Stanford, CA
- Stanford Stadium (50,424/natural grass)
- TV: Pac-12 Networks
- Radio: ESPN700 AM and Sirius 139/XM 197
- Series Record: Tied 3-3
- Last Meeting: 2013 (Utah 27-21)
Utah moved into a 3-3 series tie with Stanford on last season's upset win over the No. 5 Cardinal. It was the first home win by either team in the series: Utah is 2-0 at Stanford and 1-2 in Salt Lake City. Stanford won a neutral site game in Berkeley, Calif., in 1924. Utah has won two straight and three of the last four games. They last played in Stanford in 1996—a 17-10 Utah win.
Here are 10 things to know about this week's matchup:
- The Matchup: No. 23 Utah (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) travels to Stanford (5-4, 3-3) for the Cardinal home finale on Saturday, Nov. 15, 3 p.m. PT (4 p.m. MT). The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
- Utes in the rankings: Utah is in the AP Top 25 for the sixth-straight week, coming in at No. 25. Utah was ranked No. 17 in the first two weeks of the College Football Playoff Rankings, but have slipped to No. 23 following two straight losses to ranked opponents. Utah is 2-2 this season against ranked opponents.
- Latest Stanford trends: Stanford has won each of its last five home finales. Stanford is 10-0 following a loss under head coach David Shaw (Cardinal lost to Oregon 45-16 back on Nov. 1). The Cardinal has not lost consecutive games since midway through the 2009 season.
- Sack Lake City: Utah leads the nation in total sacks (43) and sacks per game (4.78). The Utes have led the nation for six straight weeks. Senior defensive end Nate Orchard is tied for second in the country in both sacks (13) and sacks per game (1.44). Also in the nation's top 10 in sacks is Hunter Dimick, tied for seventh (9 sacks,1.0 average). Utah is also second nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.8).
- Stanford vs. Top 25: Stanford's four losses in 2014 have all come against teams ranked in the top-25 (0-4 vs. AP Top 25 in 2014). The Cardinal is 10-5 in its past 15 games against teams ranked in the AP Top 25, and was 6-1 in such games in 2013.
- Home Field Advantage?: Utah's 27-21 win over No. 5 Stanford last year in Salt Lake City was the first home win by either team in the series. Utah is 2-0 vs. Stanford in Palo Alto.
- Expect a tough defensive battle: Stanford is ranked fourth nationally in scoring defense (16.1 points/game), fifth in total defense (281.1 yards/game), sixth in passing defense (170.9 yards/game) and 11th in rushing defense (110.2 yards/game). Utah leads the nation in total sacks (43) and sacks per game (4.78), and also second nationally in tackles for loss per game (8.8).
- Devontae hits 1,000 yards: Utah running back Devontae Booker became the 12th 1,000-yard rusher in school history in last week's game against Oregon. Booker has 1,055 net yards on a Pac-12 high 201 carries. He ranks second in the Pac-12 and 13th in the nation in rushing yards per game (117.2) and is averaging 146.0 yards in Utah's six conference games.
- Stanford scoring defense: By allowing 45 points at Oregon, Stanford saw a streak of holding teams below 30 points end at what was then a nation-best 31 games. Since 2004, there have been only three longer streaks of holding opponents under 30 points -- Alabama (36 from 2004-06), Alabama (35 from 2010-13) and Iowa (32 from 2007-10). Also, Stanford has held opponents to 20 or fewer points in 28 of its past 37 games. Dating to 2010, the Cardinal has held 42 of its past 56 opponents to 20 or fewer points.
- QB depth chart changes: With Utah QB Kendal Thompson suffering a season ending knee injury against Oregon, Travis Wilson is now back atop the depth chart and will start against Stanford. Backing him up is currently a tie between two redshirt freshmen: Brandon Cox and Conner Manning. Cox played in the Utes win over Idaho State, passing 3-3 for 17 yards while adding two rushes for 22 yards, including a 16 yard touchdown. Manning has not played this season.
