ASU at Utah Game Preview
Another week, another major Pac-12 South showdown on the road awaits the Sun Devils, and on Saturday night in Salt Lake City, Arizona State will meet a Utah squad that has turned around its season rebounding from a disappointing non-conference slate.
Utah Offense
Replacing multi-year and super-successful starting quarterback Tyler Huntley required a bit of musical chairs for Utah, but it seems evident that the Utes have found their man.
Last season, Utah brought in South Carolina transfer Jake Bentley, who didn’t last beyond the COVID shortened season as he transferred yet again to South Alabama.
Next, the Utes acquired Charlie Brewer from Baylor, who brought 9,700 career passing yards to Salt Lake City and presumed to be a solid plug-and-play piece to the Utah offense. Oh, what a failed experiment that was, as he lasted three starts with a 1-2 record and quit the team in September.
Despite all this movement, Utah now has what appears to be the best option of them all in Cameron Rising, himself a former transfer, as he initially signed with Texas out of high school.
The brother of former ASU offensive lineman Tyson Rising, Cameron Rising is 2-0 as a starter this season as he threw for 137 yards and rushed for 32 in a win over Washington State and last week had his breakout performance by completing 22-of-28 passes for 306 yards with three touchdowns while rushing for 27 yards with a score.
On the year, Rising has seven touchdowns and no interceptions – so just like last week, ASU faces a QB yet to be picked off in 2021. ASU emphatically ended that streak for Stanford’s Tanner McKee with three interceptions snared by the Sun Devil defense. Rising is one of only four FBS quarterbacks as of this moment with at least seven touchdowns but no interceptions, joining Matt Corrall of Ole Miss (12-0), Gerry Bohanon of Baylor (11-0), and Arizona native Jack Plummer of Purdue (7-0).
Rising is also a solid threat to run, as in the past three games, he’s averaged 35 net rushing yards per game and averages a well above average 6.6 yards per carry.
Intangibly, Rising brings enthusiasm and swagger to the position that’s been missing the past two seasons and comes into this game with a truly hot hand after an incredibly impressive performance against USC a week ago.
On the ground, Utah has a different approach this year than it historically has as it has relied on a group of running backs as opposed to one superstar rusher in the mold of Zack Moss and others.
Micah Bernard leads the team in rushing with 265 yards on 47 carries (5.6 avg.) with one touchdown, Tavion Thomas has 37 carries for 247 yards (6.7 avg.) with a team-high three scores, and Oklahoma transfer T.J. Pledger has 142 yards and one score on 21 carries.
Oddly, though the three players’ statistics imply that Utah implements a platoon rotation each game, the actual results have been much different as there has been a different primary ball carrier in virtually every game with limited productivity from the backup.
To illustrate, in week one against Weber State, Thomas had 12 carries for 107 yards and two touchdowns, but Bernard had just 35 yards, and Pledger had only 10. The next game versus BYU, Bernard was the standout as he had 146 yards on 12 carries, but Thomas had just 26 yards and Pledger a mere three. The next time out, against San Diego State, Bernard had a team-high 47 rushing yards, Thomas had no yards on one carry, and Pledger had a total of minus-2 yards.
To continue, against Washington State, Pledger had his day with 117 yards, but Bernard had just 19, and Thomas had just one single yard. Most recently, Thomas had 113 yards against USC, but Bernard had just 18, and Pledger had 14.
To sum it all up, in the first five games, there have been four 100-yard performances but only one occasion in which the second-leading rusher among running backs had more than 26 yards.
What does all this mean? Well, potentially a few things, because each of the three backs has had at least one 100-yard game through Utah’s first five contests, but in those five, it was always a one-man approach – though that one man seemed to alternate on nearly a week-by-week basis.
However, each of the three has proven to be dangerous, highlighted not only by the 100-yard performances but the fact that each of the three is near or well above an average of six yards-per-carry on the year.
The Utah wide receiver group has not provided much punch this year so far, as its top two performers combine to average just 8.6 yards per reception, and no wide receiver on the roster has more than one touchdown catch.
This weeks’ depth chart lists Phoenix product Solomon Enis, former UCLA and Oklahoma transfer Theo Howard, and Britain Covey, who began his Utah career in 2015, as the first-stringers for this week’s game.
Among the Utah wide receivers, Covey leads the team in receptions (20) while adding 141 yards with a score. Enis tops the position group in receiving yards (143) on 13 catches with a touchdown. Howard has five receptions for 86 yards with one touchdown.
Though the Utah wide receivers have been generally average in 2021, its group of tight ends is one of the best around as it is a deep, experienced, and versatile group.
Brant Kuithe, a Second-Team All-Pac-12 pick in both 2019 and ’20, is the team’s leading receiver with 20 catches for 192 yards with a touchdown, and he also has an 11-yard rushing touchdown to his credit.
Dalton Kincaid is the team leader among players with more than six receptions in yards per catch (15.7), as he has 188 yards on 12 receptions with a team-high three touchdown grabs.
Cole Fotheringham, who is tied for the active team lead with 31 career starts, has five receptions for 48 yards.
The Utah offensive line figures to start tackle Jaren Kump and guard Keaton Bills on the left side with guard Sataoa Laumea and tackle Braeden Daniels on the right side with Nick Ford at center.
Ford, one of the better linemen in the Pac-12, ties for the team lead in career starts (31), while Daniels has 20 career starts entering Saturday. The other three, however, all have fewer than ten career starts.
Ford was a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection in 2020 and an honorable mention selection in 2019, while Laumea was a second-team pick last season.
Utah Offense Summary
For the season, Utah ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in total offense (390.4), sixth in scoring offense (30.8), fifth in rush offense (168.6), eighth in passing offense (221.8). However, the Utes enter Saturday’s game with quite a bit of momentum after an impressive offensive performance last weekend at the Coliseum.
Though there isn’t one specific tried-and-true every down, every game back in the mold of several Utah runners from the past decade, the Utes can run the ball well and certainly will want to in order to set up opportunities for Rising and his pass-catchers.
Though Utah ranks barely in the top half of the conference in rushing, the Utes have had notable success when they choose to run as the team’s top four rushers – the three aforementioned running backs along with Rising – collectively average 6.3 yards per carry, while Utah as a team averages 5.4.
Above all, ASU has to do whatever is necessary to limit the damage done by Utah’s tight ends – a charge easier said than done after back-to-back games for the Sun Devil defense allowing well over 100 yards to tight ends for Stanford and UCLA.
Utah Defense
Up front, massive tackle Devin Kaufusi (6-7,300) and tackle Junior Tafuna are flanked by a pair of standout defensive ends in Mika Tafua and Van Fillinger.
Tafua, a Second-Team All-Pac-12 honoree last year and an honorable mention selection in 2019, is tied for the most career starts among Utah defenders (29), could be on his way to first-team all-conference accolades as he is the current conference leader in sacks (4.5) and is in a six-way tie for fourth in the league in tackles-for-loss (5.5). He also has 16 total tackles this season.
Fillinger is in a 10-way tie for third in the Pac-12 in sacks (3.0) and has 14 total tackles on the year.
Kaufusi has ten tackles, including 1.5 for loss, while Tafuna has six tackles with a sack.
At linebacker, Devin Lloyd is on the fast track to becoming this year’s Pac-12 Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year and should contend for high-level All-America honors if his rate of play continues. Lloyd was a Second-Team All-Pac-12 selection last year and an honorable mention pick in 2019.
As of right now, Lloyd leads the Pac-12 and is tied for fourth nationally in tackles-per-game (10.8) and tackles-for-loss (9.0), while also tying for third nationally in tackles-for-loss per game (1.8). In total, he has 54 total tackles, including 2.0 sacks as well as two interceptions, one forced fumble, and one fumble recovery.
Lloyd is joined by Nephi Sewell, an Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 selection in 2020, and Hayden Furey in the starting lineup at linebacker.
Sewell is tied for the most starting experience on the entire defense (29 career starts) and ranks fourth on the team in total tackles (30), and tied for third in tackles-for-loss (4.0). Furey has nine tackles, including two for a loss thus far in 2021.
In the secondary, cornerbacks Clark Phillips and Faybian Marks are joined by free safety Vonte Davis and strong safety Brandon McKinney along with nickel back Malone Mataele.
Phillips is one of the most well-rounded defensive backs in the conference as he is tied for second on the team in tackles (32) while leading the squad with five pass breakups – tied for third in the Pac-12.
McKinney shares the tie for second on the team in tackles (32), while Davis has 21 tackles with an interception. Mataele has 13 tackles, including 2.5 for loss, while Marks has 11 tackles on the year.
Utah Defense Summary
Utah features familiar names, especially its superstar Devil Lloyd, as he, Sewell, and Tafua combine for 82 career starts, but there is also is an influx of new talent, as nine players listed as first-stringers have ten or fewer career starts entering Saturday’s game – seven of which have five or fewer.
Statistically, this is an upper-third of the Pac-12 type of defense but not – or at least not yet – the elite tier defense that Utah’s put together in recent years.
The Utes rank third in the conference in total defense (340.4), fourth in scoring defense (23.0), fifth in pass defense (211.0), and rush defense (129.4). Utah also ranks second in the league behind ASU in team sacks (14) but just eighth in the conference in forced turnovers (seven).
That said, Lloyd is one of the absolute best linebackers in America, while Tafua and Phillips are stalwart playmakers at their respective positions.
Utah Special Teams
In what seems like an odd departure from the norm, Utah this season has not shown to have statistically sensational kickers.
At punter, Cameron Peasley averages 41.8 yards on 20 punts – certainly a solid average, but not in line with the Ray Guy Award standards seen at Utah in the recent past.
Kicker Jadon Redding has been hit-and-miss as he’s connected on 5-of-8 field goal attempts, with two of his three misses coming from closer than 40 yards. This inaccuracy is uncharacteristic for Redding, as he was named the First-Team All-Pac-12 kicker for 2020.
In the return game, elder statesman Britain Covey is, as he always has been, an elite returner as he averages 18.3 yards on 13 punt returns with an 80-yard touchdown. Covey and Chris Curry have combined to return three total kickoffs with a team average of 18.0 yards per return.
Covey was the First-Team All-Pac-12 pick as a returns specialist in both 2018 and 2020 and was an honorable mention choice back during his pre-mission freshman season of 2015.
Overall Summary
We don’t call it a rivalry game around here, but there’s no denying it is a high stakes matchup with the winner in line to take a clear seat in the driver’s position of the Pac-12 South division.
Utah enters this game with tremendous emotions as slain teammate Aaron Lowe was laid to rest earlier this week – the second member of the football program to be killed in less than a year.
After a horrid 1-2 start in non-conference play that featured two non-Power Five losses, including the first Utah loss to BYU since 2009, Utah, largely aided by the consistency at quarterback found in Rising, has bounced back to a 2-0 opening to its Pac-12 slate.
Though some incorrectly recall this as a series that routinely showcases close games, the true results have been far from it, as each of the last five matchups has been decided by no fewer than 16 points. Since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the only two outcomes that were by fewer than 16 points were ASU’s victories in 2013 (20-19) and 2014 (19-16).
Altogether, ASU holds a 22-9 overall edge in the series, including a 6-3 advantage since 2011.
The winner of this game certainly can’t kick its feet up and glide to the Pac-12 championship game, and by the same token, the loser of this game shouldn’t abandon all hopes of a division title, but Saturday’s victor will gain an undeniable advantage and significant momentum in the quest to represent the south for a shot at the Rose Bowl.
The environment will surely be a challenge for ASU, as Salt Lake presents a very chilly climate and a fan base that can be a distinct factor.
If ASU can follow components of its blueprint from last week – attack the quarterback, create turnovers and run the ball – the Sun Devils’ undefeated streak in Pac-12 play for 2021 can extend to another game.
Familiar Faces
· ASU WR Bryan Thompson played for Utah from 2017-2020
· Utah QB Cameron Rising is the brother of former ASU OL Tyson Rising (2016-18)
· Utah LB Trey Reynolds’ father, Paul, lettered for ASU in 1996-97
· Utah P Michael Williams was on ASU’s roster in 2020
· Utah WR Solomon Enis (Phoenix North Canyon HS), LB Jeremy Mercier (Chandler Basha HS/Gila River CC), DB LaCarea Pleasant-Johnson (Phoenix Mountain Pointe HS), LB Trey Reynolds (Queen Creek HS), WR Dawson Tanner (Gilbert HS), P Michael Williams (Phoenix Shadow Mountain HS) and OL Zereoue Williams (Phoenix Mountain Pointe HS) are all Arizona natives
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