What’s new with Utah since Oregon last played the Utes?
After a disastrous, season-altering loss to the Washington Huskies on Saturday, the Oregon Ducks have no choice but to turn their attention to an experienced, dangerous Utah squad who they will host on Saturday night at Autzen Stadium.
Kyle Whittingham’s program relishes in taking Oregon down late in the season, and while Washington already played spoiler to UO’s CFP hopes, Utah can further crush the Ducks with a win.
Saturday will be a huge opportunity for Dan Lanning’s squad to show the NCAA what kind of resolve they have, as bouncing back from that kind of victory says a lot about a team’s character, makeup, and leadership.
Cam Rising, Tavion Thomas, and Dalton Kincaid make up an outstanding trio of weapons for the Utes on offense, and even after losing linebacker Devin Lloyd to the NFL this team can do some damage on that side of the ball as well.
Let’s take a look at what is new, and what is the same, for the Utes ahead of Saturday’s battle:
Who's new?
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Notable Offensive Additions
RB Jaylon Glover
Notable Defensive Additions
LB Mohamoud Diabate
LB Lander Barton
Who's gone?
(Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images)
Notable Offensive Departures
RB T.J. Pledger
WR Britain Covey
WR Theo Howard
Notable Defensive Departures
LB Devin Lloyd
DB/LB Nephi Sewell
DE Mika Tafua
What's the same?
Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports
Notable Offensive Returners
QB Cam Rising
RB Tavion Thomas
TE Dalton Kincaid
Notable Defensive Returners
DB R.J. Hubert
S Cole Bishop
LB Karene Reid
Offensive Rankings
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Passing Offense: 252.3 yards per game (45th)
Rushing Offense: 210.1 yards per game (20th)
Total Offense: 462.4 yards per game (21st)
Scoring Offense: 39.3 points per game (12th)
Defensive Rankings
Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
Passing Defense: 206.5 yards per game (39th)
Rushing Defense: 121.4 yards per game (28th)
Total Defense: 327.9 yards per game (22nd)
Scoring Defense: 20 points per game (21st)
Utah's Resume
Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
It looks like another season of Kyle Whittingham’s Utah squad peaking at the right time. The Utes dropped their season opener to unranked Florida, 29-26, but managed to rattle four straight wins against Southern Utah, San Diego State, Arizona State, and Oregon State.
Faced with their first big test since the opener, Utah failed to defeat an upstart UCLA squad, giving up 42 points and falling to 4-2 on the year.
Since then, Utah pulled off a one point victory over USC, escaped an ugly game against Washington State with a victory, and stomped all over Arizona (45-20) and Stanford (42-7) heading into this matchup against Oregon at Autzen Stadium.
Utah was a major issue for the Ducks last season, and they have a chance to hand Oregon a second straight loss while pushing themselves even further into the top ten rankings.
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