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Arizona State head coach Todd Graham has seen the Utes' defense before, and he knows that it is more than a formidable unit. The Utah defense that Graham and the Sun Devils will face on Saturday night is almost the same defense that his Pittsburgh Panthers got shut down by last season.
The Utes allowed no defensive touchdowns in their 26-14 win over Graham’s Panthers. One of the two touchdowns came on a 98-yard kickoff return and the other on a 10-yard blocked punt return.
Game Notes- Utah (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12) at Arizona State (2-1, 0-0 Pac-12)
- Date: Saturday September 22, 2012
- Time: 7:00 p.m. MST (8:00 p.m. MDT)
- Site: Sun Devil Stadium (71,706/Grass)
- TV: Pac-12 Networks
- Radio: ESPN700, SIRIUS (132), XM (190)
- Series Record: ASU leads 17-6
- Last Meeting: 2011 (ASU 35-14)
- Kickoff Weather: Clear, temps in the low 90s
Graham remembers.
“Their defensive line is very good,” he said. “Their defense is very good, obviously very well coached.”
Pittsburgh threw for a total of 50 yards against the Utes last season and rushed for a total of 70 yards in that game. With the stout defense Graham knows his Sun Devils will be facing, he is also concerned about the Utes’ skilled players.
“Their receivers and running backs are very good,” Graham said. “I think their receiving corps is very good and very comparable to Missouri’s play. So they have big play capabilities.”
The Sun Devils are coming off of a 24-20 loss to Missouri. Arizona State trailed the Tigers 24-7 in the fourth quarter of that game. If Graham is correct in the comparability of the Utes' receivers to Missouri’s, the Sun Devils will be in pretty good shape. Arizona State held Missouri to just 192 yards through the air.
Where Graham believes the Utes can be exploited is in the trenches.
“Where they’ve struggled a little bit is on the offensive line,” he said. “They have had some injuries and had to shuffle a couple of people around, but I don’t think it changes their offense as much.”
Graham feels for Jordan Wynn as he was forced to retire a week ago after yet another shoulder surgery, but he doesn’t think the Ute offense changes a whole lot with backup Jon Hays leading the offense.
“I thought it did hurt them because I really thought Jordan Wynn was very special,” Graham said, “but we are not going against an inexperienced quarterback or a freshman quarterback. We have a guy who is very knowledgeable and has very good understanding of what they are doing offensively.”
Graham knows the givens and knows that Arizona State needs to play fundamentally sound in order to win what he thinks will be a very close game.
“This is the strength of their football team,” he said. “There is no question of their defense and their special teams. We have to make sure that we get ourselves going special teams wise … not giving them any cheap touchdowns and making them earn everything they get because it will be a very physical defensive battle.”
Trevor Amicone is the founder of byutahinsiders.com, which covers BYU, Utah and national college football with weekly polls, bowl projections, opinions and analysis. Follow its brand new Twitter page at @BYUtahInsiders and Trevor's at @TrevorAmicone.
