Arizona Football prepares for tough matchup with Utah Utes

Arizona Football (1-8, 1-5) looks to make it two in a row as they return to action in week 10, with a tough matchup against Utah (6-3, 5-1).

The 2021 college football season is soon drawing to a close, and with Arizona Football coming off their first win in over two years, the challenge will be on this week as the Wildcats prepare for a tough matchup against the Pac-12 South-leading, Utah Utes.

Coming in, Arizona is fresh off their first win of the season, and the burden of owning the nation’s longest active losing streak is finally over. However, the thing to note here is that it is unlikely that Utah will be missing a substantial amount of players and staff due to Covid like Cal, but the Utes are arguably the hottest team in the conference.

This week Arizona will once again rely on Will Plummer at quarterback, who got a little banged up in the teams’ win on Saturday, but I could also see wide receiver Jamarye Joiner getting a bigger role as well, as he played against Cal, but looked a little limited.

Either way, the Wildcats will have a huge challenge on their hands as the Utes are playing very well, but also, recent history is not on Arizona’s side as Utah has seemingly dominated this series as of late.

Getting to Know the details with Arizona Football’s matchup against the Utah Utes

Team: Utah Utes

Conference: Pac-12

2021 Record: 6-3 (5-1)

2020 Record: Finishing with a 3-2 (3-2) record in the abbreviated Covid season, despite beginning the year 0-2, Utah ended the year with three straight wins, including a 45-28 win over Washington State before declining to participate in a bowl game.

Head Coach: Kyle Wittingham is now in year 17 at Utah, and every year, the Utes seem to get even tougher. Compiling a 140-69 (85-55) record, Kyle has turned Utah into a consistent winner, and has the Utes in the drivers’ seat to win the Pac-12 South again!

Key Returners/ Starters:

Offense

This is an offensive group that has found its stride over the past couple of weeks. Averaging 35.4 points per game, the Utes rank 23rd overall in the country, and use a few different weapons to make them a talented group.

In part led by their signal-caller Cameron Rising, this is a kid that has put it all together the last couple of weeks, throwing for 1,458 yards and 12 touchdowns to just two interceptions, while completing 129 of 203 passes (63.5 percent).

He’s also a threat in running the football, rushing for 299 yards and three touchdowns on 41 carries.

Rising also loves to spread the field, as Britain Covey, Brant Kuithe, Dalton Kincaid, and Devaughn Vele have gotten the majority of the production.

However, this is a group that likes to run the football and beat you physically. They have a deep and talented backfield, with Tavion Thomas getting a majority of the work and production, rushing for 742 yards and 14 touchdowns on 122 carries.

Behind him are Micah Bernard and T.J. Pledger as both of them came off big games against Stanford. So far, Bernard has run for 394 yards and two touchdowns on 63 carries, while Pledger has 383 yards and three touchdowns on 44 carries.

Defense

On defense, this is a pretty tough and talented group, and while they are not as strong as in previous years, they are still holding opponents to just 23.2 points per game. However, where they excel the most is in the passing game, limiting teams to just 205.6 yards per game.

Largely led by linebacker Devin Lloyd, the junior has accumulated 81 tackles (45 solo) on the year with 19.0 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, three interceptions, and a defensive touchdown.

Outside of them, the Utes have their fair share of playmakers on defense that also include Nephi Sewell (LB/DB), Brandon McKinney (DB/S), and Clark Phillips III (CB).

Lastly, the Utes do a great job in creating and generating pressure in the backfield with Mika Tafua having 10.0 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks, and Van Fillinger who has compiled an impressive 7.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks statline.

Key Injuries/Absences: 

Utah

• DB/S – R.J. Hubert (Achilles) – Is out for the 2021 season with an Achilles injury.

Arizona 

• LB – Jabar Triplett (Knee) – Still recovering from offseason knee surgery.
• QB – Jordan McCloud (Leg/Knee) – Suffered a leg injury against UCLA and is the rest of the year.
• QB – Gunner Cruz (Thumb) – Suffered a hand injury against Colorado and will miss the rest of the 2021 season.
• DL – JB Brown (Opt-Out) – JB has decided to sit out the rest of the 2021 season.
• LB – Treshaun Hayward (Personal) – Treshaun is once again out due to personal reasons.

Game Information: 

When: Saturday, November 13th, 2021

Time: 12:00 PM MST (Arizona Time)

Watch: Pac-12, FuboTV 

Listen: 1290AM or 107.5FM (Tucson Radio)

Spread: +24.0 Arizona (Also, don’t forget to use WynnBet to enhance your betting experience)

Where: Arizona Stadium – Tucson, AZ (50,782)

Overall Series Record: 24-19-2 Arizona. This head-to-head series has been fairly close overall, with the Wildcats and Utes splitting the last eight games, however, the Utes have held the upper hand recently, having won four straight.

Last Meeting vs. Arizona: The last time these two teams met, Utah came away with the 35-7 win in 2019 in Tucson. Arizona and Utah didn’t play last year as the game was canceled due to Covid.

My Prediction: Utah 34 Arizona 13 – The win by Arizona last week was great and will go a long way in building the confidence of this team, however, Utah is peeking at the right time and is going to be a very tough team to beat. This team embodies the physicality and toughness of head coach Kyle Whittingham, and they come to Tucson and run away with the win.