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LOGAN — The Battle of the Brothers is back on the docket. A series that has been dominated by Utah, and finally this season the Aggies may have a crew that could compete with the U.
There are four keys that the Utes will have to accomplish to avoid the upset in Romney Stadium.
Game Notes- Utah (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. Utah State (1-0, 0-0 Western Athletic Conference)
- Date: Friday, Sept. 7
- Time: 6:00 p.m. MDT
- Site: Romney Stadium (25,513/AstroTurf) Logan, Utah
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: ESPN700
- Series Record: Utah leads 77-28-4
- Last Meeting: 2009 (Utah 35-17)
- Kickoff Weather: Mostly sunny, temps in the lower 80s
1 - Hit the deep ball.
I'm going to go with the broken record here. Coach Whit, Coach Johnson, and Jordan Wynn have all said the same thing. They need to go deep and connect on it to get that ‘chunk yardage'. Gary Anderson comes from the cloth of Kyle Whittingham, so stopping the run is priority number one. So that means they will be making sure that John White doesn't beat them, and I'd guess they'd prefer if Jordan Wynn beat them. I'd expect Utah will need to throw deep to loosen up that defense to get John White some open running lanes. I have confidence that Jordan Wynn will throw out some smart, well placed passes. It will be up to the likes of DeVonte Christopher and Dres Anderson to make the play. Wynn had a couple passes against Northern Colorado that should have been brought down by DeVonte but he just didn't make the play.
2 - Make Chuckie Keeton throw from the pocket.
Chuckie is a threat, no doubt about it. I'm not going to worry about the running backs of USU very much, because the Ute defensive line will have them on lock down. It will be a huge key for the new linebacking core of the Utes to spy Chuckie and keep him contained. He is a huge threat in the option, make him give up the ball. If they can keep him in the pocket, eventually the defensive line of the Utes will wear down the Aggies and eventually collapse the pocket on Chuckie. If Chuckie is able to break the pocket, the Ute corners will have to be disciplined to stay with their guys to not give up big yardage on broken plays. Keep him in the pocket and create pressure with the big boys on that defensive line.
3 - Win special teams.
USU has had problems on special teams, especially fielding punts. Sean Sellwood, if and when called upon, will have to put the ball in the air and make the return guys field clean punts. Same game plan on kick offs, kick high and deep and the speed of the Utes should be able to pin the Aggies deep. The Utes will have to have consistency from Coleman Peterson as well. He needs to hit the easy ones, like the field goals from 40-yards and in as well as PATs. Utah needs to be able to count on this kid, and easy points can become key to putting a team like Utah State away.
4 - Win the turnover battle.
Utah can't let the underdog, Utah State, have good field position because of turnovers and build confidence by getting some cheap points. Utah did a nice job protecting the ball in week one, they need to translate that to week two. Utah's speed in the secondary and the push by the front four could create turnover opportunities for the Utes defense.
All-in-all, the Utes talent on both sides of the ball is greater than what Utah State has, so it is key for Utah to take care of some of the basics. A team like Utah State will feed on mistakes and opportunities, Utah must limit them, if they do that they will be successful.
Shane Roberts is a producer/writer for the U Fan Cast on TheUFanCast.com, a Utah-centric podcast that gives a voice to the fan. Twitter: @Shane_U_FanCast
