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> No. 15 Utah (5-0, 2-0 MWC) hosts Oregon State (2-2, 1-1 Pac-10) on Thursday, Oct. 2 in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Game time is 7:00 p.m. Tickets may be purchased by calling 581-UTIX, online at utahutes.com and at the Rice-Eccles Stadium box office. The game will be televised nationally on VERSUS. Radio is KALL 700 AM (kall700sports.com for internet streaming).
> Utah advanced two places with Saturday's win to No. 15 in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches' polls. For more information on Utah's all-time poll appearances, see page 17 of this release.
> Utah is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since its 12-0 season in 2004.
> Utah joins Fresno State as the non-BCS teams with the most wins against BCS schools since 2000 (14). Utah is 14-10 against BCS teams since 2000 (not counting a 2001 win over South Florida, which was not in the Big East at that time) and 9-3 since 2004. For more on Utah against BCS teams, see boxed inset (BCS Busters) on page 3 of this release.
> Since 2003, Utah is 5-2 against the Pac-10 (4-0 in Rice-Eccles Stadium), with wins over California (2003), No. 19 Oregon (2003), Arizona (2004, 2005) and UCLA (2007). Losses were to UCLA (2006) and Oregon State (2007). Kyle Whittingham is 2-2 against the Pac-10 as Utah's head coach.
> In last year's season-opening loss to Oregon State, Utah lost running back Matt Asiata (broken leg) and quarterback Brian Johnson (shoulder) to first-half injuries. The score was tied 7-7 at halftime, but Oregon State pulled away from the battered Utes for a 24-7 win. For more on that game and the Utah-OSU series, see the boxed inset on page 2.
U OF LOU
Utah's All-America punter/kicker Louie Sakoda continued his barrage on the school record book against Weber State last week. Sakoda broke a 76-year-old school record for career scoring in the game with his three field goals and four PATs. Sakoda has now scored 238 points—surpassing the previous record of 235 set by fullback Frank Christensen from 1930-32. Sakoda was tabbed as the MWC Special Teams Player of the Week on Sept. 29—the ninth such honor of his career and the second award this season. For more on Sakoda, see pages 9 and 11.
DEFENSIVE DOMINATION
> Utah leads the league in pass defense (171.2) and total defense (231.4). The Utes rank second in rushing defense (60.2), opponent first downs (62), opponent third down conversions (30.9%) and opponent fourth down conversions (40%).
> Nationally, Utah ranks fourth in opponent first downs (62), fifth in total defense (231.4) and rushing defense (60.2), and sixth in tackles for loss (8.60).
> Utah held Michigan, Utah State, Air Force and Weber State to under 60 yards rushing.
> Air Force rushed for just 53 yards against Utah—300 below its season average entering the game—and the lowest rushing total by an Air Force team since 1980.
> In 20 quarters of play, Utah has held its opponents to under 20 yards rushing in 13. In seven of those 13 quarters, opponents compiled negative rushing yards.
> Utah held Utah State to the second-lowest total offense total in a game (116 yards) by an FBS team this year.
END OF THE LINE
Utah's defensive line has been overpowering teams this season and two big reasons are all-conference candidates Koa Misi and Paul Kruger. The star defensive ends rank 1-2 on the team in total tackles—Misi with 28 stops and Kruger with 26. Kruger has a league-high 11.5 tackles for loss and a team-best 4.5 sacks. Misi ranks second on the team with 2.5 sacks and is third in TFL (5.0). Another lineman off to a spectacular start is tackle Greg Newman, who ranks fifth on the team in tackles (22) and second in TFL (6.0). All three rank in the league's top 10 this week in tackles for loss (Kruger leads the league, Newman is tied for sixth and Misi is ninth).
LAST WEEK
Brian Johnson was 12-of-13 passing for 123 yards and two touchdowns in the decisive second quarter and Utah went on to beat Weber State 37-21. The Utes broke open a 7-7 game with a 17-0 second quarter run—aided by the best defensive period of the night. Weber was stuffed for minus-11 rushing yards and 25 total yards in the second quarter by a Ute defense that also pitched a shutout in the third quarter. After Utah scored 30 straight points to put the game out of reach, Weber scored twice in the fourth quarter against the Utes' second string defense. Louie Sakoda broke two school records on a night when he made all three field goals and was 4-of-4 in extra points. He moved his career scoring total to 238 points—breaking a 76-year-old school record in the process. Sakoda also made his 45th career field goal for another school record. In his three quarters of play, Johnson completed 18-of-22 passes for 194 yards and two touchdowns. Kepa Gaison and Mike Wright had six tackles each to lead the defense, while Greg Newman chipped in five tackles, two TFL (for 17 yards), a sack and a fumble recovery.
Quotes from Kyle Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference
Opening Statement:
Good win on Saturday night. I thought we accomplished some things, particularly on offense. Most notably we were able to clean up the sacks and turnovers. We did not take any sacks and only had one turnover. Brian (Johnson) dropped back and his arm was hit. It's one of those things that's going to happen every once in awhile. The bottom line is that offensively we played our most consistent game from start to finish and hit the numbers we have been achieving in our first four ball games. On defense, it was not a bad outing by the `ones.' The biggest disappointment was the way our No. 2 defense came out and got handled. Half of their total offensive production came against our No. 2's in the fourth quarter. The penalties were cut down a little bit - it's still not good enough, but we made progress. Louie (Sakoda) had a good outing; he was the MWC Player of the Week, scoring 13 points. He broke the all-time field goal record in the process.
We have a tough game coming up and a short turnaround against Oregon State. They had an impressive win against USC last Thursday. It was a very well played ball game by them. Their main running back (Jacquizz Rodgers) is extremely productive, he's strong and quick. We've got to focus on slowing him down. Their quarterback is playing well (Lyle Moevao) and Sammy Stroughter, Shane Morales and James Rodgers are their go-to guys. We have a big challenge ahead and a compressed amount of time to get ready. It's not new to us but we've got to get a lot done in the next couple of days to be ready to compete.
On the week's schedule:
We will get back on the field today. Typically Monday is a lighter day, but today is different. Today is a hybrid day, a Tuesday/Wednesday combination. We'll have full meetings. Tomorrow will be a Wednesday/Thursday hybrid - this is when we would put on pads. Wednesday will be a Thursday/Friday day, usually Friday is a walk-through day. Game day is on Thursday and that will be similar to any other game day.
On Thursday night games:
I like Thursday games. I think it's a good situation, particularly if you get on TV and play well. It's good exposure for our program. I don't like it when one team has five days to prepare and another has seven, but it is what it is.
On Oregon State's offense:
They have gotten better each and every week. They have discovered their running back and how effective he can be. He is like all great backs - when nothing is there he will find a way to make yards. Their front seven are really gelling together. They have good movement at the line of scrimmage and they hit you right in the mouth. We have to beat them to the punch and match their physicality. Between the emergence of the tailback and the efficiency of the offensive line they have gotten better every week.
We have to stop the run, more so than any other week this season. We have to control the ball between Matt (Asiata) and Darrell (Mack) and control the clock like we've been doing.
