Keys To Victory For No. 16 Utah Football Vs Arizona State

Oct 10, 2024, 1:11 PM

Utah Insider

TEMPE, Arizona – Utah Football will return to action in a Friday night contest against the Arizona State Sun Devils. This is an important game for Kyle Whittingham’s program in the Big 12 Conference title race and there are keys to victory for the Utes in this one.

Game Info

TV: ESPN

Rado: AM 700

Records: No. 16 Utah (4-1, 1-1); Arizona State (4-1, 1-1)

Last Week: Utah bye week; Arizona State defeated Kansas, 35-31

Series History: Utah trails 12-22 but has won four straight and six of the last eight.

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Getting off to a good start is important in this one, here are the keys to Utah’s matchup against the Arizona State Sun Devils

Key To Victory No. 1 – Utah defense has to limit Arizona State’s run game

The Sun Devils have one of the top rushing attacks in the Big 12 at 218.0 yards per game. Senior Cam Skatteboo leads the squad with 615 yards and 6 touchdowns on 111 carries this season. He’s a bruising back who worked hard this offseason to add a little more juice to his game.

He has doubled his production and workload for the Sun Devils but he is not the biggest factor in the team’s significant jump in year-over-year run game production. That belongs to quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has added a dynamic punch to the run game.

Leavitt has added a significant amount of pop to the run game, thanks to his 211 yards on quarterback scrambles. He does have 71 yards on designed quarterback runs, giving him a total of 282 yards (257 sack adjusted) and 4 touchdowns on the season. Of his 49 total attempts this season, he’s converted 19 1st downs. Of his 24 quarterback scrambles, he’s converted 11 first downs, with eight of those runs going for at least 10 yards.

The Sun Devils also welcomed prized transfer addition, Raleek Brown to action last week. He contributed 7 carries for 41 yards against the Jayhawks. He should serve as a dynamic complement to the bell cow, Skatteboo.

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The product of limiting Arizona State’s run game

Leavitt has been a big difference-maker for the Sun Devils this season. Largely due to his dual-threat ability but Leavitt has brought more balance to the Sun Devils offense than what they had last season. However, there is still plenty to prove as a passer.

In their only loss, Leavitt had the most pass attempts of the season, he completed 22-of-38 throws for 282 yards and 1 interception. In their two biggest wins of the year, Leavitt attempted just 20 throws against Mississippi State and 22 passes against Wyoming.

Essentially, Arizona State’s offense is at its best when it is balanced or heavily tilted toward the run game. Forcing the Sun Devils to throw and taking away the run seems to be the best recipe for success and the offense can do its part by getting off to a strong start.

Key To Victory No. 2 – Utah must protect the quarterback

A lot has been made of Utah’s pass rush and sack totals this season. Through five games, Utah, Kansas State, and Arizona State are each tied atop the conference for most sacks with 12.0, which says a lot about the Sun Devils’ pass rush.

Utah must protect the quarterback at all costs. That obviously falls primarily on the offensive line, which has performed well but needs to be better.

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What will help Utah is the fact that Arizona State will be without their top pass rusher, Clayton Smith, for the first half of the game. He leads the team with 14 pressures and 4.0 sacks this season. Elijah O’Neal and Justin Woddtly will hold it down on the edges without him. Both have shown the ability to generate pressure as well. O’Neal has 11 pressures and 2 sacks, while Woodtly has 7 pressures in roughly 90 snaps.

What will also help protection is getting the ball out of the quarterback’s hands in a timely manner. Arizona State is the No. 9 ranked pass defense in the Big 12 but is trending in the wrong direction. Since their impressive 78-yard effort against Wyoming, the Sun Devils have allowed 249.2 yards per game, as well as 10 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions.

Utah can generate similar production but again, they must protect the quarterback first.

Key To Victory No. 3 – Utah’s offense needs to get off to a strong start

After failing on multiple trips into the red zone early on against Arizona, that should have been a major point of emphasis for the Utes the past two weeks.

Slow starts are not uncommon for Utah. Since the Baylor game, when Utah posted 17 points in the first quarter, the Utes have scored just 3 opening quarter points in the three games since.

The Utes needs to get off to a good start to showcase the progress it has made in this regard, which is most important. There is an added benefit in the sense that it can also help the defense in this matchup.

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Under Kyle Whittingham, Utah has been known for making opposing offenses one-dimensional. That is primarily the responsibility of the defensive unit to take away the run game but part of that can depend on how the offense performs.

The Utes offense can help the defense by getting off to a strong start. Arizona State won’t abandon the run early but if Utah can jump out to a lead and force Arizona State to dig out of a hole, that often leads to more pass attempts. As pointed out previously, that plays a significant role in Arizona State’s success this season.