GAME PREVIEW: Utah at Cal

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utes did not lose a game in the non-conference schedule this season, but they’ve yet to win a conference game in the new Pac-12. They’ll get six tries in the next six weeks to end the season starting on Saturday at AT&T Park in San Francisco as they take on the California Golden Bears. In our five-question preview of the game, we answer the questions facing the Utes as they begin their quest for their first Pac-12 win.

What did we learn from Utah’s game against Pittsburgh last week?

• The Utes defense is pretty darn good. Stop me if you’ve heard this before. They held the nation’s leading rusher to 46 yards on the ground and the Pitt offense to a total of 120 yards. Yeah, the Pitt offense looked terrible, but we might be able to attribute at least some of that to the Ute defense. It’s definitely becoming a trend.
• Utah’s offense still can’t finish. Didn’t we used to talk about how the spread offense could get to the red zone but always had a hard time finishing once they got there? This west coast thing isn’t having much more success right now. The lack of a big back hurts the Utes’ ability to finish, as does a dominant tight end — something that got even worse with Dallin Rogers’ season-ending knee injury.
• If the Utes could stop shooting themselves in the foot, they could be pretty good. They didn’t turn the ball over on Saturday, so they tried to do the next best thing: penalize themselves right out of points. The Utes ran out of bounds on 3rd down while trying to run the clock out. They personal fouled their way out of the red zone when any points would have ended the game. Despite that, they beat a Pitt team (at Pitt) that somehow beat the 16th-ranked team in the nation by 30 points a few weeks ago.

What lingering questions do we still have about the Utes?

• Can Jon Hays get the Utes to a bowl game? Hays didn’t throw the ball deep at all against Pitt, but who knows, that’s always worked for the Big 10. It could have been the severe winds in Pittsburgh on Saturday or the game plan for Pitt, but head coach Kyle Whittingham has said that the Utes will try to throw the ball downfield more going forward. That means we’ll get to find out if Hays can lead the Utes to a winning season.
• Can the Utes pass protect? Hays got sacked seven times against Pittsburgh. Some of the sacks can be attributed to the offensive line, others to the running backs picking up the blitz, and others to Pitt’s defensive game plan. However, the Utes have got to protect Hays better if he’s going to get the offense going.

What can the Utes expect from Cal?

• An air attack. Cal throws the ball a lot to begin with, but having seen the tape from the Pitt game, the Bears will throw it even more than normal. Expect Cal to put it up somewhere between 45-55 times.
• Loading the box. The Bears will try to make the Utes beat them through the air. So if the Utes establish the run early, it could be a long day for the Cal defense (and I mean long literally, because the Utes will try to keep their offense on the field as long as possible).
• Trick plays. Cal is desperate for a win, and the Ute defense is very aggressive. Look for Cal to try to exploit that in a few key situations.

What can we expect from Utah against Cal?

• A steady diet of John White IV. The Cal defense gives up an average of 132.7 yards per game on the ground. White turned in another solid outing at Pitt, running for 171 yards in the game. Don’t expect 36 carries for White again, but the Utes will definitely try to establish the run against the Bears.
• More downfield passing than last week. The weather was a big factor in the lack of downfield passing for the Utes last week. Hays should let loose a little bit more on Saturday against the 59th-ranked pass defense in college football.

1. Pressure on quarterback Zach Maynard. The weak spot on the Ute defense is the young secondary, and the Bears will try and test it early and often. If the Utes are going to help out their secondary, they are going to have to put pressure on Maynard. Miscellaneous:

• This game will be played at AT&T Park in San Francisco, the home of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, because Memorial Stadium (Cal’s usual home field) is undergoing extensive renovation.
• Utah is 1-0 at AT&T Park, winning there in the 2005 Emerald Bowl over Georgia Tech 38-10.
• Cal is 4-3 against Utah all-time, but the Utes have won the last two games against the Bears.
• The last game between these two teams was in the 2009 Poinsettia Bowl when the Utes won 37-27. The last regular season meeting between these two teams was in Salt Lake City back in 2003 when the Utes won 31-24. That game was Alex Smith’s first start for the Utes. It was also played in front of the biggest crowd to ever see a football game in Salt Lake City (46,768).
• The Utes and Bears have the same non-conference and conference records this year (3-3, 0-3).
• Senior defensive end Derrick Shelby was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Pitt (7 tackles, 6 solo tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and an interception return for a touchdown).

Conclusion:

This is a dangerous matchup for the Utes. The Bears are very pass heavy, and the Utes’ secondary is susceptible to big breakdowns in pass coverage. Maynard can make plays with his feet, a trait the Utes had a hard time with against Keith Price, Washington’s quarterback. That said, the Utes should be able to run the ball fairly effectively and Hays should be able to have more success throwing the ball downfield. Anticipate a little more of a high-scoring game than normal for the Utes.

Trevor Amicone is the sports director at 88.1 Weber FM "Ogden's Radio Station" and host of the sports talk radio show, "Fully Loaded Sports with Trevor Amicone". Find more of his blogs at TrevorsTopTens.com. Follow him on Twitter at @TrevorAmicone

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