On Saturday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN and KNBR 1050 radio, Stanford will take on Utah on the road in Salt Lake City. Stanford comes in at 3-6 overall and 1-6 in the Pac-12 while Utah comes in at 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the Pac-12.
Last time out: Stanford got blown out at home by Washington State last week 52-14.
RECAP: Stanford gets walloped by Wazzu
On Utah: The Utes are led by junior quarterback Cameron Rising, who has 16 touchdown passes and 3 interceptions for 2006 yards and 67.08% completion percentage. Rising also has 301 rushing yards and a team-high 6 rushing touchdowns for a 6.1 yards per carry average.
The Utes also have an elite running back in junior Tavion Thomas who has a team-high 452 rushing yards along with 5 rushing touchdowns for a 4.5 yards per carry average. The top receiver on this Utah team is senior tight end Dalton Kincaid who has 614 receiving yards and 7 receiving touchdowns for a team-high 46 receptions and a 13.35 yards per reception average.
On defense, the Utes have former Stanford edge/outside linebacker Gabe Reid. Reid has 19.0 total tackles (13.0 solo) along with 3.5 sacks. Reid has done a great job of bringing the pass rush and putting pressure on quarterbacks like he did when he was on The Farm.
There are three Utes who have 50+ total tackles on the year: sophomore safety Cole Bishop, senior safety R.J. Hubert, and sophomore linebacker Karene Reid (Gabe’s brother). This Ute defense is physical and they get after it.
As a whole, Utah has had a strong season. They battled Florida tough in Gainesville and lost at #18 UCLA by 10 before bouncing back to beat #7 USC 43-42 at home. In their last outing, they smashed Arizona 45-20.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is stop the run. Utah ran over them last year and will look to do so again. If Utah runs over them again, it’s gonna be game over. Stanford has to contain Rising and Thomas and force others to beat them on the ground. Easier said than done.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is get going in the passing game. Tanner McKee needs to ball out, get enough time to make big time throws, and his receivers have to go wild. If Stanford has an amazing passing game, they might generate enough points to at least keep this respectable.
Finally, Stanford needs to take some chances. Cook up some creative play calls, creative blitzes, and play loose. They’re not expected to win and need to play like a team that is just out there letting it all hang loose. That more than anything could make this game more interesting than expected.
Prediction: Utah 42 Stanford 17 is my prediction. If Stanford makes it closer than that, I would be surprised. Though they have shown they are capable of surprising us from time to time. I thought they would battle Notre Dame tough, but I didn’t think they’d win. As I said earlier in the week, for 24-72 hours once a year, a female panda is capable of conceiving a cub. Anything can happen on a given Saturday.
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