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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah opens up Pac-12 play Saturday, hosting the battered Oregon State Beavers.
The Beavers come in with a depleted depth chart in an already up-and-down season. Oregon State will be without several starters due to injury, including right guard Roman Sapolu and right tackle Grant Enger. The Beavers will also be without starting right tackle Gavin Andrews, who is out because he is still recovering from mononucleosis.
"We've already seen quite a bit of adversity and we've had our share of early season injuries where it's been disruptive, but I've been impressed with the fact that nobody blinks," Beavers head coach Mike Riley said. "We've got good leadership on this team, we've got some tremendous older guys in the program that are going full speed ahead and I've got a stable group of coaches that are working to try to get a win."
As a result, the Beavers will be left with freshman Sean Harlow and walk-on Nolan Hansen as the team's only backups going into the game against Utah.
"You just have to deal with them and you've got to find a way to put some stability around it," Riley said. "I think it's real important the way coaches approach it, and how they do that will carry over to the team's confidence going forward. It's always tough to be disrupted by injuries.
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Utah defensive backs vs. Sean Mannion
After two weeks, the Utes are 2-0 in their quest for the Beehive Boot but now it's time to begin chasing the real prize — a January trip to Pasadena as the Pac-12 conference champion."The issue for us is these are injuries at two positions that we went in not having a lot of depth, so you've got to make the best plan and put the right people in the right spots as you go forward and then build confidence with it with the team," he added. "I think a real important part of it is how you approach it. And then the other part of it that I think is crucial is try not to think of the whole season as of being ahead of you, but look at the week and try to make the best plan for that week."
With the lack of depth on the offensive line, Oregon State will likely have little answers for their already nonexistent run game. The Beavers have only amassed 162 rushing yards and three touchdowns, lead by running back Storm Woods with 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns.
"(Chemistry) is very important because without it, we can't run the ball," Woods told The Oregonian. "But I'm not down. We're not down. We know that's going to happen soon. We're just staying positive."
Although the run game may not be as effective as the Beavers would like it, they've been mostly successful in the passing game, with junior quarterback Sean Mannion leading the charge under center. For the season, Mannion is a combined 68 of 86 for 794 yards and seven touchdowns. Mannion is averaging 397 yards per game, making him a viable threat on offense.
The issue for us is these are injuries at two positions that we went in not having a lot of depth, so you've got to make the best plan and put the right people in the right spots as you go forward and then build confidence with it with the team.
–Mike Riley
Under his leadership, the Beavers could easily expose an already vulnerable secondary for Utah. If given the time and space, Mannion will find his receivers with accuracy to move the chains.
"I still have concerns. We've had some bright spots in the first two weeks for the secondary; we've also had some not so good things happen back there," Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham said. "So it's a work in progress with our techniques, our fundamentals. We need to play coverage the way it's designed to be played. I think we've made progress, but like I said, it's still something that's going to be improved upon week in and week out."
Nevertheless, Riley understands the pressure of playing at Rice-Eccles Stadium and the momentum that is gained from a road victory.
"That's quite an environment," he said. "It's a great college football environment. We've started early this week preparing our kids — it's our first road game — and it's always a really solid, well-coached football program. So that's the challenge.
"There's no doubt that early momentum is a good thing. As you reach a new threshold, depending on where your team is, these games always loom bigger and bigger," Riley added. "To be able to overcome that and win, and win the opening conference game, there's a lot to that."
