SALT LAKE CITY - Utah (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) returns to Pac-12 Conference play this Saturday, playing California (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) in San Francisco. Kickoff in AT&T Park is 4 p.m. PT (5 p.m. MT). The game will be televised locally on KJZZ, as well as on Comcast SportsNet-Bay Area. Radio is ESPN700 AM (espn700sports.com).

> Utah finished the non-conference portion of its schedule with a 3-0 record with last week's 26-14 win at Pitt. The Utes improved to 9-0 all-time against the Big East and 3-0 vs. Pitt with the win.

Utah (3-3) at Cal (3-3)

Game 7 Notes

• Utah (3-3, 0-3 Pac-12) vs. California (3-3, 0-2 Pac-12)
• Date: Saturday, Oct. 22, 2011
• Time: 4:00 p.m. ET (5 pm MT)
• Site: AT&T Park (45,000/Grass) San Francisco, Calif.
• TV: KJZZ, COMCAST SPORTS NET-BAY AREA
• Radio: ESPN700/SIRIUS 93/XM 197
• Series Record: Cal leads 4-3
• Last Meeting: 2009 (Utah 37-27)
• Kickoff Weather: Sunny, temps in mid 70s

Series Snapshot ...
While the Utes trail the series with Cal 4-3, they have won three of the last four and two straight. Utah's 31-24 win in 2003 came in the first start of Alex Smith's career and before the largest crowd ever to watch a football game in Salt Lake City (46,768). In 2009, then-true freshman Jordan Wynn led Utah to a 37-27 victory over Cal in the Poinsettia Bowl. Utah's lone road win was in 1964.

> Cal is playing all of its home games outside of Berkeley this season in San Francisco's AT&T Park while Memorial Stadium undergoes an extensive renovation and retrofit. Prior to this season, Cal played every home game since 1923 (88 years) in Memorial Stadium.

> Utah is 1-0 at AT&T Park, beating No. 24 Georgia Tech 38-10 in the 2005 Emerald Bowl when the stadium was known as SBC Park.

> Cal leads the series 4-3, though Utah has won two straight and three of the last four. Most recently, Utah beat the Bears 37-27 in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl behind an MVP performance by then-true freshman QB Jordan Wynn. Wynn will miss this season's rematch due to a season-ending shoulder injury. Complete series information is in the boxed inset on page 2.

> Utah and Cal have played two common foes this season with both losing to USC and Washington. Utah lost 23-14 to USC and 31-14 to Washington, while Cal lost 30-9 to USC and 31-23 to Washington.

> Senior defensive end Derrick Shelby was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week after leading Utah with seven tackles (6 solo), 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a fourth-quarter interception that he returned 21 yards for the game-clinching touchdown in Utah's 26-14 win at Pitt on Oct. 15. He also earned an ESPN helmet sticker. He becomes just the second Ute ever to win a Walter Camp weekly national award, joining Eric Weddle, who won one on Sept. 24, 2006 (vs. San Diego State).

DEFENSIVE DIAMONDS

One of the best teams in the nation against the run, Utah ranks second in the Pac-12 and 13th nationally in rushing defense (94.5), holding four of its six opponents under 100 ground yards: BYU (11 yards), Pittsburgh (70 yards), Arizona State (74 yards), Montana State (75 yards) ... Last week, Utah held Pitt's Ray Graham, then the nation's second-leading rusher, to 46 yards--103 yards below his average coming into the game ... The Utes rank second in the Pac-12 in these categories: total defense (326.3/25th nationally), scoring defense (20.5/28th nationally), pass efficiency defense (116.8), interceptions (7), turnovers gained (16/T-13th nationally), red zone defense (11-for-15, 73%/T- 20th nationally) ... Utah is tied for the Pac-12 lead and tied for ninth nationally in fumbles recovered (9) ... Utah is third in the Pac-12 in pass defense (231.8), opponent fourth-down conversions (4-for-11, 36.4%) and turnover margin (tied, 0.50).

INSIDE THE HUDDLE

Defensive end Derrick Shelby and placekicker Coleman Petersen were both honored as Bank of the West Pac-12 Players of the Week on Oct. 17. Shelby becomes Utah's second defensive honoree, joining Trevor Reilly (Sept. 17), while Petersen wins Utah's first special teams award ... Utah has lost four players to season-ending injuries: starting quarterback Jordan Wynn (shoulder), starting punt returner Charles Henderson (knee), co-starting fullback/tight end Dallin Rogers (knee) and co-starting safety Keith McGill (shoulder). McGill will have surgery Thursday. Wynn and Henderson are eligible for redshirt seasons ... Players who missed last week's game at Pitt and remain questionable for this week are starting receiver DeVonte Christopher (ankle), running back Tauni Vakapuna (ankle) and linebacker Jacoby Hale (concussion) ... Seeing his first action as a Ute last week against Pitt was true freshman receiver Quinton Pedroza. Utah has played five true freshmen this season: safety Eric Rowe, defensive end Nate Fakahafua, running back Harvey Langi, receiver/punt returner Henderson and Pedroza.

OUTSIDE THE LINES

Utah sold out its 3,000-seat allotment to this week's game at Cal prior to the start of the season ... Eight Utah football players were named to the Phil Steele Midseason all-Pac-12 team, including first-team defensive selections Chaz Walker and Trevor Reilly. Named to the second team was offensive tackle Tony Bergstrom, while offensive guard Sam Brenner, receiver DeVonte Christopher, running back John White, linebacker Brian Blechen and defensive tackle Star Lotulelei all made the third team.

U-TWEETS

Utah has 32 players from California on its roster ... Utah scored 14 points in all three of its losses (USC, Washington and Arizona State) ... The defense has scored three touchdowns, including two by DE Derrick Shelby on an interception and a fumble recovery, and one by LB V.J. Fehoko (fumble recovery) ... The Utes are off to their first 0-3 conference start since 2002, when they were members of the Mountain West Conference.

LAST WEEK

Utah's defense pitched a shutout, with Pitt's only points coming on special teams, and Coleman Petersen booted four field goals in a 26-14 Ute win in Pittsburgh. Derrick Shelby led a defense that held the Panthers to 120 total yards with a team-high seven tackles, 1.5 sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss, two pass breakups and an interception that he returned 21 yards for a touchdown. Utah held the nation's second-leading rusher (Ray Graham) to just 46 yards. Brian Blechen had six tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss and Conroy Black made an interception and a pass breakup. Coleman's 4-of-4 field goal day included a career-long 45-yarder that gave Utah a 19-14 fourth-quarter lead. John White rushed for 171 yards on 36 carries and Luke Matthews caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Jon Hays.

Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

Opening statement:

It was a good win at Pitt for our football game. It was a hard-fought game. The conditions weren't ideal with heavy winds and so-forth, but I thought the guys handled it well. We did a great job hanging on to the football. John White had an exceptional afternoon. The offensive line is a big part of that, and I thought they played well. Coleman Petersen was a big factor with four field goals and two PATs. He had a big game. Defensively, I couldn't have asked for a better effort across the board. They held a great running back to less than 50 yards. It was a solid performance from start to finish, particularly Derrick Shelby. He was our in-house player of the week and got some national honors as well. I thought the guys handled the road trip well. We left a day early because we were travelling two time zones. The credit goes to our players and how they prepared during the week, and we got the result.

We are back in conference play now, with six conference games in a row starting at Berkeley. Cal has put a lot of people in the NFL. We have our hands full, but we will be ready. We will have a great week of practice and will be ready to line up and play on Saturday.

Injury report:

Dallin Rogers is out for the year with a knee injury unfortunately. We have four guys out for the year: Dallin, Jordan Wynn, Charles Henderson and Keith McGill. DeVonte Christopher (ankle) is questionable again this week, and Tauni Vakapuna (ankle) is also questionable. We will see how they progress. We hope to get them back, but time will tell.

On the receivers:With DeVonte on the shelf, Dres Anderson, Reggie Dunn, Luke Matthews and Kenneth Scott are our feature guys. We didn't throw the ball a whole bunch against Pitt. Both teams had trouble throwing the football in the wind. I thought they blocked well also. The crew has a lot of upside. This is a young group and I think it's going to be a very good group for us.

On Cal running back Isi Sofele:

He is a good player. We offered Isi way back out of Cottonwood. He wasn't ready to commit, and we filled up before he decided where to go. We liked him. If he wasn't going to play running back, he could easily be a defensive back. He's a versatile guy. He's doing a good job for them at tailback.

On the special teams against Pitt:

On the kickoff return, we had him pinned at the 15 had we wrapped up and made the tackle. We missed some and he got bounced outside and turned on the speed. It wasn't a structural error, just us not finishing the play. The blocked punt was an assignment error. We had a miscount and he got a gimmee and was untouched to the punter. On the miscue on the snap, if you watch from the back, the ball got blown four feet with the wind. It made it difficult for us to handle. The bright spot was Coleman, so it wasn't all bad, but it wasn't our usual. We usually win the special teams battle going away.

On pass protection:

We gave up seven sacks against Pitt, which is a boatload too many. The offensive line was responsible for three of those. There are other people involved in pass protection. Although the offensive line probably had their poorest day protecting the passer, we have to get it fixed. Pitt had a nice scheme, so I give them a lot of credit for what was done schematically. You're not going to win many games giving up seven sacks, but fortunately we came up with the win.

On Derrick Shelby:

Derrick was all over the place. He made a bunch of plays. I've said for three straight weeks that he has played his best game as a Ute, and he's gotten better in successive weeks. This was by far his best performance. He's having a very good season so far to this point.

On the offense: We need to be more productive in the red zone. That's our biggest issue right now. The last game we were in the red zone 3-to-4 times and came away with nothing but field goals. If we can score touchdowns in the red zone, we would have won going away, but we didn't score in the red zone. In my mind, there are a lot of things we can improve upon, but the most pressing is scoring touchdowns in the red zone. It's an execution issue. We have a high percentage of penalties that have occurred in the red zone, and we have to eliminate that.

Related topics