Arizona Football takes on No. 7 Utah in final home game of 2019

The misery of the 2019 Arizona Football season is nearly over as the Wildcats will play their final home game of 2019 with No. 7 Utah coming to town.

Things have severely spiraled out of control for the Arizona Football team these past few weeks. After starting the season 4-1, the Wildcats are on the verge of possibly ending the season on a seven-game losing streak.

It doesn’t get any easier this week either as No. 7 Utah comes to town for the final home game of 2019. 

Arizona Wildcats

Arizona competed against Oregon, and saw an improved defensive performance against a talented Ducks team, however, it was enough as the Cats ultimately fell by a 34-6 final.

The Wildcats enter this week on a five-game losing streak, and the Utes looked mighty good as they throttled Utah by a 49-3 final over UCLA.

At this point, making a bowl game does not look likely, although there is still a possibility it could happen, especially if Arizona were to win their final two games of the season.

The defense under interim Defensive Coordinator Chuck Cecil will get another week to improve and gel.

However, it’s the offense that needs to find a way to put points on the board after only scoring just six points against the Ducks.

The only problem will be that Utah may have a better defense than the Ducks, and Arizona’s offense certainly sputtered against the Ducks as they dealt with some key injuries along the offensive line.

Either way, it’ll be interesting to see if head coach Kevin Sumlin will go back to the freshman quarterback in Grant Gunnell, or if they go to the senior in Khalil Tate who helped lead the Wildcats on their only two scoring drives.

With that said, here’s our ‘Week 13’ preview of Arizona’s match-up against the Ducks:

Know Thy Foe:

Team: Utah Utes (9-1, 6-1)

Conference: Pac-12 Conference

2018 Record: 9-5 (6-3); finished the season by losing to Northwestern a 31-20 final in the Holiday Bowl.

Head Coach: Kyle Whittingham enters his 15th season as the head coach at Utah, and has done a tremendous in really turning these Utes into a Pac-12 power. So far he’s compiled a 129-62 record, and is 9-1 so far this season.

Once again he has a very talented group and they have been predicated on a strong defense and a very talented offense.

Key Returners/ Starters: Starting with the offense, the Utes have a number of talented players they lean on, most namely with the duo of quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss.

As a quarterback, Huntley likes to spread the ball to a few different receivers and is certainly dangerous in the open field with his legs as well. Leading the group of pass catchers for the Utes are guys like; Demari Simpkins, Brant Kuithe, Bryan Thompson and Samson Nacua.

Along the offensive line is where they have done a nice job, surrendering just 14 sacks. Granted it helps they have a pretty mobile QB in Huntley, however, the Utes have been led by senior left tackle in Darrin Paulo, but have found a nice rotation of guys.

Defensively is where Utah probably excels the most. Overall, this group is incredibly stout, surrendering just 11.3 points per game, which currently ranks fourth in the country.

Together they get great contributions every where, but sophomore linebacker Devin Lloyd has been stellar, accounting for a team high, 66 tackles (32 solo), with 6.5 tackles for a loss and three sacks to go along with an interception and touchdown.

Additionally, players like Francis Bernard, Julian Blackmon and Terrell Burgess have been incredibly productive thus far as well.

Lastly, the Wildcats will have one hell of a challenge in keeping the Utes out of the backfield, starting with the highly productive defensive end, Bradlee Anae. So far, Anae has a 10 sacks in 10 games this season, which currently ranks second in the Pac-12.

Key Injuries: 

Arizona 

• OL – Cody Creason (Questionable) – Did not play versus Oregon State, so his status is unknown at this time.
• OL – Josh McCauley (Questionable) – Left the game versus Oregon State and may be back for Oregon.
• OL – Bryson Cain (Questionable) – Left the game versus Oregon State and may be back in time for Oregon.

Utah

• QB – Cameron Rising (Out) – Rising has been dealing with an eligibility matter and will not be available for the 2019 season.
• WR – Britain Covey (Out) – Covey will miss an extended period as he is still feeling the effects of rehabbing a previously torn ACL.

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, November 23rd, 2019

Time: 8:00 PM MST/ 7:00 PM PST

Watch: FS1

Where: Arizona Stadium – Tucson, AZ (50,424)

Spread: -21.0 Utah

Overall Series Record: 23-19-2 Utah. Arizona some brief success versus Utah, winning four straight from 2012 to 2015, but have lost three straight since then.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: Utah won the last meeting between the schools, scoring the huge, 42-10 win over the Wildcats in Salt Lake City.

My Prediction: Utah 34 Arizona 13. I think the Wildcats show some fight in this one because it’s the final home game and it’s senior night. However, the Utes are just much too talented and too strong on defense to be beaten. Arizona falls in the final home game of 2019.

Prediction record so far: 6-4

At Zona Zealots, we’re hoping the Cats can just end the season on a high note! As always, Bear Down, Arizona and beat the Utes!