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SALT LAKE CITY — Two No. 1's go head to head Friday night when the USC Trojans visit the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City, and it's not exactly the matchup you'd expect.
Coming with the Trojans is superstar return specialist and defensive back Adoree' Jackson. Ute fans might remember him. The last time he visited Rice-Eccles, he was only a freshman, and he ended up doing this.
A junior this year, Jackson leads all players in average punt return, with 51 yards per, despite having had only two opportunities thus far. One of those was a return he took for a touchdown against Utah State. He's a threat in the kick return game too, ranking 38th in the nation in kick return average. Basically, Jackson is a highlight reel waiting to happen.
Playing the role of foil to Jackson's protagonist in this week's game is Ute punter Mitch Wishnowsky. Increasing the intrigue of the cat and mouse matchup that is punter and returnee is the fact that Wishnowsky leads all players in gross punting average, at 52.6 yards per punt. Being that these two are the best in the nation at what they do, maybe cat and mouse isn't the right analogy; this is a heavyweight bout.
Or at least it could be. If Utah coach Kyle Whittingham has anything to say about it, it won't even make it past the pre-match press conference.
"You've got to try to keep the ball away from him," Whittingham said. "He's dangerous. If he gets the ball with a little bit of space, you're in trouble. We've got to do a great job with the punt team this week of trying to neutralize that as well as the kick-off coverage, because he's as good as there is in the country, maybe the best in the country, at returning kicks and punts."
For Wishnowsky's part, he's already game planning.
"The trick is just to put it up in the air so that the coverage is down there and he's forced to fair catch it," Wishnowsky said. "It's just about putting it high enough so the boys can get down there."
Adding to the appeal this week are the weather conditions. Cold and rain are the current forecast, and a wet surface affects all facets of the game, particularly special teams. Wishnowsky admitted at his Monday press conference that he's never really played in inclement weather.
"I don't reckon I've ever even played in rain," Wishnowsky said. "If there's a strong wind, some times the ball drop gets a bit funky. The rain might weigh the ball down a bit but the worst is wind."
Jackson himself is a flash of lightning. USC's first game of the season, against Alabama, afforded us perhaps the best example of Jackson's speed. Midway through the third quarter, the Trojans behind 31-3 and with the outcome mostly assured, Alabama quarterback Jalen Hurts handed the ball off on second and four to running back Damien Harris. Harris took the ball on the 16-yard line's right hash mark, cut back and found a crease in the middle of the USC defensive line, and took off.
Jackson, for his part, was playing press-man coverage outside the left hash marks from his cornerback position, at least 25 yards away from Harris before the play had even begun. Three seconds later, Harris was at the 30-yard line, and Jackson had closed the gap to just 4 yards. Four yards, however, is still a substantial head start, especially for a guy like Harris, no slouch in the speed department (he was clocked at 4.40 seconds in the 40-yard dash during Alabama's spring testing). The former No. 1 nationally ranked running back coming out of high school kicked it into sixth-gear and any other guy would never have caught him. Jackson is not any other guy, and chased him down, catching him at the 10-yard line and bringing him down at the 5.
It was a remarkable tackle, considering all the circumstances. USC was down big, any motivation or thoughts of winning the game probably long past, and an extremely speedy running back with a 4-yard advantage were all factors that should've resulted in six points for the Crimson Tide. Jackson is just the man for that kind of job, though. He's all of the typical clichés, all of the comparisons to speed and flash.
Wishnowsky himself is no slouch. At 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, he's built more like a star linebacker than a star punter. Against BYU, he hit a punt (0:20 second mark) from his own 6-yard line that sent BYU punt returner Garrett Juergens backpedaling from his position at the BYU 30-yard line where he eventually fielded the ball at the 18-yard line. For those counting, that's 76 yards. In the air. Just another day in the life of a Utah punter, right?
As Friday night rolls around, perhaps even Utah's best efforts may not be enough to thwart the elements and keep the ball away from Jackson, and should he get the chance to take a kick or punt back, watch out. With the right space and good blocking, it could come down to just punter and returner, Wishnowsky versus Jackson, mano-a-mano, two No. 1's, face-to-face.
Stephen Lindsey is a student at the University of Utah currently working as an intern with KSL.com in Salt Lake City. Contact him at th3sl3@gmail.com or interact via his Twitter handle, @th3sl3
