Devin Kaufusi: How Utah Is Getting Ready For Stanford On A Short Week

SALT LAKE CITY – Utah has an extremely quick turnaround this week after defeating UCLA, the Utes are now back at it on a short week and traveling to Palo Alto to face the Stanford Cardinal on Friday night.

It takes a lot to prepare for a game with not only one less day but on the road as well. Everything gets condensed like film study, adjusting treatment schedules, and that also includes the amount of actual contact that Utah does. There is not a ton of contact but Utah defensive lineman Devin Kaufusi said they still did their “Bloody Tuesday” practice but just earlier to have a day of full contact.

“I like a Friday game. Coming off of a win and everyone was ready to get back in and working,” Kaufusi said on his weekly appearance for the Players Club. “We learn how we can get better as a team. We had our [bloody Tuesday] practice early. The strength staff does a great job… to keep guys fresh and be ready for Friday’s game.”

The Utes are a heavy favorite against Stanford who is just 3-5 on the year but Utah is only 1-3 on the road and the Cardinal are a physical team which makes playing them with one less day of prep and recovery time a challenge against this team.

Heading into the final month of the regular season, I decided to do a look ahead for the south division as well as the north.

Pac-12 title game is one month from tonight.#GoUtes @kslsports https://t.co/k9ydKaNDF9

— Trevor Allen (@TrevorASports) November 4, 2021

The Utes are in a great position to win the Pac-12 South for the third time in four years. They are one game up in the loss column over Arizona State, plus own the head-to-head victory. So, all Utah needs to do – easier said than done – is to keep on winning against teams they are better than and that includes Stanford.

However, Kaufusi makes it clear that the Cardinal style of play is one that is similar to Utah and can not be taken lightly even with a losing record.

“The main thing with Stanford, don’t let their record fool you as that how it is within the Pac-12, especially with Stanford,” Kaufusi said. “They have a staple of out-‘physicallying’ teams and sticking to their technique.”

The theme this week and all of the season is to not take any opponent lightly for this Utah team. The Utes are a solid team this year but they have stumbled here and there with three losses on the season, but this team had a nice recovery with its UCLA win and should be able to take care of business vs. Stanford and become bowl eligible.

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