Week 8 and the Utes first trip outside of Utah!

Do you worry that UU may become overconfident after last week's win?

Utah had the second biggest upset in school history last week. This is good and bad news for the Utes. The good news is, they are one step closer to becoming bowl eligible and have already met the amount of wins I expected for the year (I'm glad to be wrong on that one). The bad news is, with big wins comes big heads. I'm sure it has been a challenge for Whittingham to keep ego's at bay this week. Although, I do think that this Utes squad know's that there isn't one or two guys that are all stars (with the exception to the arrogance of Drez Anderson whom I love) but it was a combined team effort that won last weeks game against Stanford. Utah could come in to Tucson more confident but I don't think it will be a hinderance in this weeks game in fact, I think it will help them more than it will hurt them. It is very possible for them to be too confident but I think coach Whitt has done a great job over the past 8 years keeping everyone's ego's in check and preparing the Utes for the task at hand.

How do you think UU will handle an away crowd as they have only been on the road once (at BYU)? 

This is a tough one. I wish I had a real answer for it. I don't know. The Utes have had a "home game" every game this year thus far. Last weeks win against Stanford the Utes greatly benefited from the home crowd. We were loud and definitely helped the defense out with I believe 4 false starts (two of which came late in the game). It surely will be a test to see how the Utes play when there will be very minimal support up in the stands. Although, I do think the Utes will be just fine with this crowd. Autzen on the other hand, that game I am worried about.

What do you think was so different during the Stanford game? What do they need to do to maintain these changes?

The Utes finished. That's something Utah haven't done against a good PAC-12 opponent since the they joined. Sure they have played teams closer than maybe they might have thought it would be but the Stanford game was different because they played all 60 minUTES (get it?). I also think that Stanford was not ready for the screen passes and swing passes. That helped to spread out the defense and made the running game successful. So I guess if I were to make a list it would be these 3 things:

1. Consistent good play calling (on offense and defense)
2. Took advantage of turnovers (only 6 points but that was the difference in the game)
3. Made plays all 60 minUTES.

UU loses if... UU wins if....

The Utes have to contain Arizona's running attack. Little known fact, Arizona (3-2) with losses the past two weeks to USC (38-31) and #16 Washington (31-13) has the 14th most rushing yards per game average in the nation with 262 yards. Ka'Deem Carey Arizona's star running back is averaging 113 yards per game this season and last year when the Utes played the Wildcats in Salt Lake, Cary ran all over Utah's defense racking up 204 yards! The Utes defense this year is on average giving up only 133 yards on the ground and nearly 270 through the air! Arizona's offense is averaging 160 yards through the air and 262 yards on the ground. This means that Cary (who accounts for less than half of their rushing yards) is a great back but the credit should probably go to the offensive line. They are making it possible to rush for 260 yards a game. So What do I think the Utes need to do to win this game? Beat the offensive line. Blitz. Blitz often and blitz hard. The Utes have had decent success bringing heat this year. Honeycutt has had a great season bringing pressure to the quarterback. If the Utes can bring pressure and stop the run on the line, they win. If not... it will be another long night for the Utes (who have yet to have a long night I might add).

Utes Win If:

1. Get pressure in the backfield consistently
2. Utes score more than 30+ points
3. Utes are +2 in turnover battle

Utes Lose If:

1. Can't score 30 points
2. Carey has more than 160 yards
3. Utes fall back to 2-13 on 3rd downs

As much as I know a lot of BYU fans would love to see the Utes fall after slaying a "giant" so to speak. I just don't think it's going to happen. I think the Utes are the underdogs and are fine with being the underdogs. It should be a fun game with quite a bit of offense but I do think the Utes sneak out of Tucson with a win. Their offense has been consistent and their defense has been really stepping it up. I think they have shown they can stop a potent running attack even with big hogs up front pushing the line and creating holes. Utah has shown some resiliency this season and last week it finally paid off. Watch out for the Utes tonight to build off of that momentum and show that it wasn't just a fluke.

Utes: 31

WildCats: 21