Utah Football Not Overlooking Arizona Despite Record, Oregon Game
Nov 10, 2021, 3:16 PM
Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham looks at the scoreboard near the end of the game in Salt Lake City on Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021. Utah won 35-21.
SALT LAKE CITY – Utah football is not overlooking Arizona at all despite the Wildcats getting just one win this season and snapping a long losing streak.
Arizona snapped a 20-game losing streak with a 10-3 victory over Cal on Saturday at home. Before that win over the Golden Bears, Arizona’s last win was over Colorado on October 5, 2019. That was when they started the 2019 season with a 4-1 record, beating Northern Arizona, Texas Tech, UCLA and Colorado.
With Utah entering the game as a heavy favorite and a chance to lock up the Pac-12 South Division, winning five of their last six, head coach Kyle Whittingham knows the Wildcats will have confidence coming into the game.
“That game has to give them confidence,” said Whittingham. “They got the win and I’m sure they’re gonna do everything in their power to build on that and try to continue the momentum. But, we’re gonna do everything in our power to try to get a win on the road. So we’ll see what happens.”
With a very young team, it’s possible that players could overlook Arizona especially with a big showdown with Oregon at home next weekend. Whittingham knew his leadership wouldn’t let that happen.
— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) November 10, 2021
“Sure hope not,” stated Whittingham. “We’ll have team meetings today (Monday) and address that very possibility. But I would guess that the group that we have here has great leadership. I don’t guess, I know they have great leadership. They’ll handle it just like we have past several weeks. We’re settled into our routine. It’s just rinse and repeat every week, you just start over and do the same things.”
One of those leaders is quarterback Cam Rising. He was asked if there was any message to the team about possibly overlooking Arizona.
“We got to prepare like we prepare and just take it one game at a time and not treat it like we’re playing a one and eight team,” said Rising. “But just like we’re going to go play a football game, we have to focus on winning this game and going 1-0 this week.”
Utah and Arizona will kickoff in Tucson on Saturday, November 13 at noon MT on the Pac-12 Network.
Trevor Allen is a Utah Utes Insider for sports.ksl.com, Co-Host of Faith, Family and Football podcast with Clark Phillips III and host of the Crimson Corner podcast. Follow him on Twitter: @TrevorASports.
