Earlier this week, CardinalSportsReport.com caught up with UteNation.com publisher Alex Markham to do a Q&A about the Utah Utes in advance of tonight’s game, which kicks off at 7:30 PM PT on FS1 and KNBR Radio.
Q: Utah is known to be a pretty physical, grind it out kinda team that takes pride in defense. Is this year’s Utah team pretty similar to fitting that bill? In what ways are they different from past Utah teams?
Markham: “They were defensive-reliant until the Charlie Brewer experiment fizzled. Ever since Cam Rising took over the offense, they’ve realized that the offense is the strength and they know the defensive performances can be hit and miss. Therefore they air it out more and take more risks because of the trust the coaches have in Rising. The offense still can do the grind it out approach as evidenced by destroying UCLA’s highly-rated run defense, but that’s not this team’s MO. The defense is young and has also had a lot of injuries. They’ve had their moments, it hasn’t been the typical season for a Utah defense.”
Q: Utah is 4-0 at home; 1-3 on the road. Any reason for that disparity?
“Two road losses came with Brewer as the starter—and Rising nearly led them back in overtime against San Diego State. The other came in a hard-fought battle against Oregon State where Utah had a massive special teams blunder and Devin Lloyd was kicked out for targeting. I’d definitely ignore the road record.”
Q: Cameron Rising seems like he can run, throw, do it all as a QB. Just what is it about him that makes him so tough to stop?
“You said it. He can run, throw, and do it all. He’s a lot faster and elusive than people realize, too. He does it at an elite level and Stanford needs to just hope that they can capitalize on a risk or two that Rising takes. Aside from what you mentioned, Rising is an alpha dog. He’s one of the best leaders Whittingham has had as a coach and he loves playing the game, which is contagious to his teammates and coaches. The dude oozes swagger. He has “it.” The coaches have completely opened up the playbook and he has their full trust. He plays the game and sees things as if he’s already started 30 games, not six.”
Q: Can he rush things and take more risks?
“Yes, but it doesn’t happen often. Utah is lucky to have him.”
Q: Any key guys who Stanford fans should be aware of that they might not know of?
“The obvious are Rising, Devin Lloyd, Brant Kuithe, Britain Covey, and Mika Tafua. Guys that they’re less likely to know of and want to pay attention to especially in the passing ware Dalton Kincaid and Devaughn Vele. Both have a huge catch-radius and are favorite targets of Rising. Vele is the big play threat. Tavion Thomas has absolutely exploded onto the scene ever since he fixed his early season fumbling issues. He’s a load at 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, and he’s fast too.
“Defensively, Lloyd’s linebacker partner Nephi Sewell seems to come up with clutch plays frequently. Freshman Van Fillinger is becoming a terror at defensive end. There’s also Clark Phillips III who is emerging as Utah’s next great cornerback.”
Q: How would you assess Utah’s season so far? Has it been about what you expected? Or have they failed to live up to expectations? They were ranked coming into the season, so I’d imagine it hasn’t gone as planned.
“Nothing goes as planned when you have two teammates unexpectedly die in a span of nine months. One in the offseason and the other during the season. The tragedy and emotions they’ve gone through are unimaginable. Because of this, no one around here will really say they’ve failed to live up to expectations. The community is proud of this team. They’re also proud of the fact that Utah is in the driver seat for the Pac-12 South and that this group is still good enough to win the whole conference.
“The one thing that could have changed the season trajectory and had them in playoff conversation is if the coaches had gone with Rising over Brewer. It was a justifiable move at the time, but one that looks like a completely missed opportunity, in hindsight.”
What is your prediction for Friday? Why?
“With as many injuries as Stanford has, I just don’t see this being close. Stanford is giving up a league-worst 206 rushing yards per game and they’re going up against Tavion Thomas who has really found his groove. Additionally, Rising has 300 yards rushing for 7.89 yards per carry. He should do just enough to keep the Cardinal on their toes and then pop the big pass plays.
“Stanford might actually put more points on the board if McKee doesn’t play on Friday. The reason being is that Utah can struggle a little with dual-threat quarterbacks, as opposed to pocket passers.
“Ultimately though, Utah should win this one 41-20.”
