First look: No. 18 Utah

A detailed look at No. 18 Utah ahead of this Saturday’s 11 a.m. AZT matchup with Arizona State at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, Utah.

BY THE NUMBERS

Record: 6-2, 3-2 Pac-12 (2022: 10-4, 7-2 Pac-12)

Offense: 21.2 PPG (107th in FBS), 332.0 YPG (103rd), 159.2 pass YPG (120th), 172.8 rush YPG (45th)

Defense: 17.5 PPG (18th), 307.2 YPG (18th), 221.2 pass YPG (59th), 86.0 rush YPG (7th)

Key players: Junior quarterback Bryson Barnes (769 passing yards, four touchdowns, five interceptions, 57.8 completion percentage); redshirt freshman quarterback Nate Johnson (499 passing yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, 54.2 completion percentage); freshman wide receiver Mikey Matthews (23 receptions, 221 receiving yards, 9.6 yards per catch, zero receiving touchdowns); junior wide receiver Devaughn Vele (22 receptions, 281 receiving yards, 12.8 yards per catch, zero receiving touchdowns); junior wide receiver Money Parks (20 receptions, 227 receiving yards, 11.4 yards per catch, two receiving touchdowns); junior running back Ja'Quinden Jackson (99 carries, 487 rushing yards, 4.9 yards per attempt, one rushing touchdown); sophomore running back Jaylon Glover (80 carries, 295 rushing yards, 3.7 yards per attempt, two rushing touchdown); sophomore safety Sione Vaki (30 carries, 243 rushing yards, 8.1 yards per attempt, two rushing touchdown, six receptions, 144 receiving yards, two receiving touchdowns, 42 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, one sacks, one interceptions); junior safety Cole Bishop (42 total tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, two fumble recoveries); junior linebacker Levani Damuni (38 tackles, one tackle for loss); junior defensive end Jonah Elliss (32 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, one fumble forced); freshman defensive end Logan Fano (14 tackles, four tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one fumble recovery).

Coach: Kyle Whittingham (19th year as head coach at Utah with 160-76 record)

Betting line: Utah -10.5, according to FanDuel

QUICK GLANCE

It took Kyle Whittingham 16 years to win a Pac-12 championship and book his ticket to Utah’s first Rose Bowl appearance. In the following 2022 season, his program didn’t waste an opportunity to repeat as conference champions, becoming only the third school to win back-to-back Pac-12 championships since 2011, the first season of the title game.

Although the Utes have proven to be the best team in the conference in back-to-back seasons by consistently beating premiere Pac-12 programs and back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances, they’ve failed to win the big game in Pasadena, losing to Ohio State and Penn State in the program’s first and second appearances, respectively.

In its game against Penn State, Rising left with a knee injury with about eight minutes to play in the third quarter and trailing by only seven points. The Utes would go on to lose their second straight Rose Bowl, but arguably their biggest loss was Rising, who has not played in a game since then and was recently ruled out for the season by Whittingham after months of speculation about his return.

Even without its star quarterback, Utah managed to remain among the Pac-12’s top programs by relying on its defense to keep it within striking distance. Whittingham’s offense finds itself near the bottom of most major statistics out of the 130 FBS teams, while his defense ranks inside the top 20 in three categories: points allowed; yards allowed; and rushing yards allowed.

HOW THEY’RE DOING

Being without Rising has hindered offensive performance, but Utah has managed to have multiple 30-point outings and earn ranked wins over UCLA and USC. It took five games for Whittingham’s program to suffer its first defeat of the season to then-No. 19 Oregon State, but the loss and its subsequent defeat to Oregon were not enough to keep it from consistently receiving enough votes to be ranked inside the top 25 on a weekly basis.

Whittingham did this without a consistently reliable offensive attack though the team scored as many as 34 points against Cal and USC while being held to 14 points against UCLA and seven against Oregon State. Despite the shortcomings, Utah still seemed as much as any team like the program to beat in the Pac-12 even with multiple Heisman candidates in the conference.

But then a piece of reality presented itself when the program faced Oregon.

Until last week, Utah’s defense was able to make up for a lack of offensive production and help its offense control the game, but that changed on Saturday when the Ducks scored 35 points — the most allowed by the program this season — and held the Utes to only six points. The loss knocked the Utes down five spots in this week’s rankings.

Throughout ASU head coach Kenny Dillingham’s first season in Tempe, he’s told reporters that he’s shown clips of Utah to his players to provide an example of the “gold standard” of the conference even in a season that has the program missing multiple crucial pieces. He's cited the little details the Utes do as important in his first year and has credited the physicality of their blocking.

OFFENSE

It hasn’t been the offense that most were expecting from Utah this year.

The status of Rising has been up in the air for many weeks until Whittingham said Rising and senior tight end Brant Kuithe, who also has a knee injury, finally announced the duo would not appear this year.

Whittingham has attempted to put together a competitive offense without his two star players, which has proved difficult as the program is averaging 21.2 points per game and 332.0 yards per game, ranking 11th and 12th in the Pac-12, respectively.

Barnes and Johnson have each seen action at quarterback, with Barnes seeing action in seven games compared to Johnson’s five appearances. Barnes suffered an injury against Oregon State that sidelined him and forced Johnson to finish the contest and start against UCLA the following week. Despite both quarterbacks getting their opportunities to perform, neither has been able to come close to replicating Rising’s play from a year ago as the Utes are near the bottom of the conference in almost every major offensive statistical category, leaving fans questioning who should be the Utes' signal caller.

With Utah’s issues at quarterback, offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig has relied even more heavily on a rushing attack to help his offense move the football. Jackson leads the way with 487 rushing yards on 99 attempts. His services have been relied upon more thanks to the departure of Tavion Thomas, who led the program with 687 rushing yards a year ago. Glover has also seen an uptick in workload, recording 295 yards on the ground.

The Utes work from tight formations with their sophomore tight end Landen King and junior tight end Miki Suguturaga serving as lead blockers in the run game and passing game. Suguturaga almost always lines up as an attached tight end and usually provides blocks for his teammates instead of making plays on his own. On certain plays, King will run a route as a detached tight end but sees the bulk of his action opening up space for his teammates to take advantage of. It’s common for King and Suguturaga to motion to the opposite side before the ball is snapped, as a check or to find a numbers advantage on a defense.

Utah’s offense is similar to how ASU’s operated against Washington and Washington State, using exit motions combined with under-center sets that allow for either a run or pass play. Matthews will often be the exit motion and has the possibility to receive the ball via the air or on a handoff.

Vaki has seen action on defense and on offense as a running back, accumulating 243 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns, 144 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns while recording 42 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss. The majority of Vaki’s rushing work was against Cal when he rushed for 158 yards on 15 attempts with two touchdowns. The following week, he caught five passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns against USC. Vaki saw limited action against Oregon despite back-to-back breakout games, carrying the ball only five times for 11 yards without a reception.

The Utes’ passing attack is spearheaded by three players who all have at least 20 receptions: Matthews (23), junior wide receiver Devaughn Vele (22) and junior wide receiver Money Parks (20). Vele has made the most of his catches, 12.8 yards per reception and 40.1 receiving yards in his eight games played. No other player on the roster has more than eight receptions on the season.

DEFENSE

For what Utah lacks in offensive production, it certainly makes up for with its defensive play.

The Utes play an ultra-aggressive defense that has generated 25 sacks while holding their opponents to 27.3 percent on third-down conversions, ranking second-best in the nation.

What makes Utah’s defense potent is its ability to shut down the run via an intensely physical effort. Utah will operate in 4-3-4 and 4-2-5 formations, but it’s able to move into odd fronts, put an extra defensive back in the game or drop a lineman into coverage whenever it has an opportunity to substitute when there are 11 - or 12-personnel sets.

Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley operates with three linebacker positions that include a rover linebacker, a MAC linebacker and a Stud linebacker. Junior linebacker Levani Damuni plays the MAC position and junior Karene Reid is the rover linebacker. Both Reid and Damuni see the most action on the field with freshman Sione Foto appearing as the Stud linebacker in certain situations.

Against 11 personnel in long distances, Utah likes to run a 4-2-5 to give itself an extra defensive back for versatility with Damuni and Reid playing the linebacker positions. But when the Utes face 11 personnel in short yardage, they will go into a 4-3-4 with up to six defenders lining up on the line of scrimmage.

When Oregon went to an empty set with its running back lined up in the slot and a tight end on the field, Utah shifted to a three-man front with three linebackers and a fifth defensive back on the field. Both linebackers came down onto the line to show a blitz, but only one rushed. Ducks’ senior quarterback Bo Nix immediately found his running back on a slant route wide open across the middle of the field for a big gain.

When Utah faces 12 personnel in long distances, it will often be in a 3-3-5 defense with a single-high safety and can put six players on the line of scrimmage. The extra defenders go on either side of their defensive ends, allowing them to drop back into coverage or rush the quarterback from a two-point stance. This philosophy changes slightly once an offense deploys it in short yardage inside the red zone, forcing Utah to put four linemen on the field and four defenders in the second level with two corners and a single-high safety.

Anchoring the Utes’ defense is Bishop, operating from a free safety position while recording 42 tackles, two interceptions, and two fumble recovers. Bishop will be all over the field, blitzing from his perch but can show a blitz pre-snap just to drop into coverage. His versatility allows Utah to get into favorable situations.

Damuni and Reid lead the linebacker corps and both have 38 tackles on the season. With all of the shifts Utah operates with, Damuni and Reid are only a few players who consistently remain on the field and will have a variety of options from their spots. Most of the time, at least one linebacker will show a rush regardless of the down and distance. The pressure can come off the edge or from interior gaps.

The program’s offensive struggles force it to rely heavily on its defense to win games and keep its offense within reach. So far, it’s worked well for Utah as it has only one blowout loss on the season, which was last Saturday against Oregon.

SPECIAL TEAMS

Utah is one of the best punting teams in the country, averaging a net punt of 42.3, good for 13th in FBS. The effort is led by sophomore punter Jack Bouwmeester, who has taken 38 punts for the Utes this season, accumulating 1,751 yards and getting 19 punts to land inside his opponents' 20-yard line. His ability to flip the field has been crucial, as he has pinned teams deep in their own field with 13 punts landing 50 yards away from the line of scrimmage, granting Utah's defense room to work with.

Junior placekicker Cole Becker has made nine of his eleven field goals on the season with a miss from 30-39 yards out and a miss from 50 yards or more. Becker has taken some kickoffs, but usually, senior kicker Chase Carter handles kickoffs with a team-leading 25 kicks with six touchbacks.

FORECAST

This has been the measuring stick Dillingham has waited for all season long. It's the perfect opportunity to see how his program has grown and how much more is needed to reach the high standard of Utah's culture and physicality.

For ASU to leave Salt Lake City with a win, it's imperative for it to take advantage of its mismatches, especially with junior tight ends Jalin Conyers and Bryce Pierre. Conyers and Pierre have been used in the pass-catching game all season, but against Utah taking advantage of their skillsets is crucial for a win.

When the Sun Devils deploy Conyers and Pierre, they can use them in a variety of ways such as being attached and detached to their offensive line. If they're able to rotate through their formations while the Utes are stuck with personnel that is not ideal to match up against Conyers or Pierre, it could create advantages for Dillingham to exploit. Effectively, Dillingham could use his tight end in so many different ways that it forces Whittingham to choose a linebacker or defensive back to match up with a tight end for a prolonged period of time without a substitution opportunity.

Defensively, the Sun Devils will have to take advantage of Utah's offensive line, which allows 1.88 sacks per game slotting them tied for 56th in the nation. For comparison, ASU is averaging 2.62 sacks per game, tied for 31st in the nation.

ASU did not record a sack or a quarterback hurry against Washington, one of the country's best passing defenses, but it was able to get star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. off his platform by sending pressure up the middle through the A-gap. A similar approach could be taken this week to hinder Barnes' ability in the pocket.

But for the Sun Devils, it all goes back to the physicality of Utah and building toward their ideal culture.

“Physicality, I showed eight clips yesterday from Utah, and I said, ‘This is the best team in the league. This team won the league two years in a row. This is the gold standard of Pac-12 football right now,’” Dillingham said on July 31. “And I showed them calling 303 deep into bubble, three by one bubbles, which is not a good defensive call. But what it is, is their physicality and their culture overcomes those. They can coach the game so aggressive because they know mano a mano their guy is going to play harder, their guy is going to play more physical, their guy is going to play with more of a passion, that they don’t give up explosive plays because everybody plays with a physicality.”