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 Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information.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 are clinging to dear life for any hope of playing in a bowl game as they welcome the Oregon State Beavers into Rice-Eccles Stadium at 5 p.m. Mountain Time on Saturday. Needing to take care of business at home, the Utes look to take a step toward bowl eligibility. We’ll tell you what to look for in this week’s five-storyline preview of the game.
1. Can the offense move the ball? The Utes' offense struggled with starting quarterback Jordan Wynn leading it before his injury. Now, with Jon Hays at the helm, they’ve been downright anemic. And that might be generous. Teams have been loading the box against the Utes as of late, forcing Hays to beat them. In Pac-12 games, the Utes have not been able to adjust. The Beavers will likely do the same, knowing the Utes have to establish the run game with John White IV. The offensive output will probably rest on the shoulders of Hays again this week.2. Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers. The Utes turned it over four times (three interceptions and one fumble, all by Hays) against Cal last week. The Utes didn’t turn it over at all against Pittsburgh and they fared quite well. Even the game at Cal was competitive right up until the moment Hays put the ball on the turf early in the second quarter. That has been a theme all year for the Utes. Watch out for the first turnover and how the Utes react to it. At this point, it’s almost not a matter of "if" but "when."
3. Pass protection. Hays cannot be blamed for all of the turnovers last week. At times the offensive line looked like it was confused, and when it didn’t look confused, it looked like the opening of flood gates. Although he’s not Tom Brady, Hays does just fine when he has time to throw. When he doesn’t get protection, he’s in trouble. Expect Oregon State to throw the kitchen sink at the Ute offensive line in the form of blitz after blitz. If the Utes can protect Hays, the offense might be able to move the ball enough to win.
4. Sean Mannion vs. Ute secondary. It sounds like a broken record. Every week we preview the matchup between the opposing quarterback and the Utes’ secondary. Last week, I said the Cal offense was not a good matchup for the Utes’ secondary. Although this matchup isn’t as tough for the Utes, it is not an easy one. OSU quarterback Sean Mannion likes to throw it often, and he has many talented receivers like Markus Wheaton and Jordan Bishop to throw to. Look for Mannion and the Beavers’ offense to try to use that to exploit the Ute defense.
5. Home sweet home. Utah has struggled at home so far this season. They are 1-2 in Salt Lake City, but even the home win over Montana State was less than impressive. The Kyle Whittingham era has been marked by an incredible home-field advantage (going into this season, the Utes were 30-6 at home under Whittingham). The Utes need to play well on Saturday if they are going to get that advantage back.
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.
