SALT LAKE CITY — For whatever reason, the Utah Utes have had a devil of a time with Arizona State over the years. They enter Saturday’s game in Tempe with an all-time record of 8-21 against the Sun Devils, including a 2-5 mark against them in Pac-12 play. Last season, ASU defeated Utah 30-10 at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
“They’ve got good players. That’s something that’s been consistent since we’ve been in the league,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham. “They’ve been one of the more athletic and talented teams. They’re well-coached.”
Whittingham emphasized the latter before complimenting the job first-year coach Herm Edwards is doing.
“That’s probably the reason,” he said, then noting Utah’s record against ASU. “They have been a tough matchup for us.”
Every single game they’ve been in this year has been competitive — the four they’ve lost. We’ve got the utmost respect for them. – Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, on Arizona State
Prior to a 34-18 win in Salt Lake City in 2015, the Utes had lost 11 straight games to the Sun Devils. The skid extended back to a 31-28 decision in 1976 in Tempe. Forty years later, though, Utah earned a 49-26 victory in its most recent visit to ASU.
“They’re a good team like I said. They’ve got good players and through the years they’ve been a tough matchup for us,” Whittingham expounded. “So this year will be no different. It’ll be a tough game.”
No. 16 Utah (6-1, 4-2) enters the game as the leader of the Pac-12 South. ASU (4-4, 2-3) is coming off a 38-35 win at USC. The Sun Devils have a deceiving record. All of their losses — to San Diego State, Washington, Colorado and Stanford — have come by seven points each. Their wins have come against UTSA (49-7), Michigan State (16-13), Oregon State (52-24) and last Saturday over the Trojans, who had won 19 straight games at the Coliseum.
“When was the last time Southern Cal was beaten at home? It’s been a few years and so they went there and got that done, which speaks volumes,” Whittingham said. “Every single game they’ve been in this year has been competitive — the four they’ve lost. We’ve got the utmost respect for them.”
The Sun Devils have weapons in quarterback Manny Wilkins (281.5 yards of total offense per game), running back Eno Benjamin (117.3 yards per game rushing) and big-time receiver N’Keal Harry, who is the reigning Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week as a punt returner.
Utah senior linebacker Cody Barton said he didn’t know why the Utes have had such a tough time against ASU. In last year’s loss at home, they were intercepted four times and never got on track offensively.
“Last year, obviously, they got us pretty good,” Barton acknowledged.
“They’re a good team. They play hard,” he continued. “They play pretty physical, too.”
Freshman receiver Solomon Enis knows all about ASU. He’s a graduate of North Canyon High School in Phoenix and was heavily recruited by the Sun Devils.
“My opinion with the whole coaching staff changes at ASU, I mean every year it’s something different, you have to game plan for something different,” Enis said. “You know with coach Whitt being here for a minute, you can go back and see his tendencies.”
Enis added that Whittingham is a big defensive guy, so nothing really changes with that.
“But with ASU there’s so much change and so many differences from each year. So, I mean, just game planning against that is kind of hard,” Enis said. Edwards is the third head coach of the Sun Devils the Utes will face since joining the conference in 2011. Dennis Erickson (2011) and Todd Graham (2012-17) are the others.
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Utah-ASU in the Pac-12
- 2011: Sun Devils 35, UTES 14
- 2012: SUN DEVILS 37, Utes 7
- 2013: Sun Devils 20, UTES 19
- 2014: SUN DEVILS 19, Utes 16 (OT)
- 2015: UTES 34, Sun Devils 18
- 2016: UTES 49, Sun Devils 26
- 2017: Sun Devils 30, UTES 10
Home team in all CAPS
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No. 16 Utah (6-2, 4-2) at Arizona State (4-4, 2-3)
- Sun Devil Stadium — Tempe, Ariz.
- Saturday, 2 p.m.
- TV: Pac-12 Networks
- Radio: ESPN 700AM