SALT LAKE CITY — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham gave his team Friday, Saturday and Sunday off in hopes of recharging their batteries and getting guys healthy for the second half of the season.
Many of the coaches hit the recruiting trail during the bye week, primarily focusing on the program’s usual footprint in southern California, Texas and Utah.
As preparation for Saturday’s game at Oregon State resumes, the Utes do so with higher national rankings. They moved from 17th to No. 15 in the latest AP Top 25 and the coaches poll.
At 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the Pac-12, Utah is also looking to climb the South Division standings as play resumes. The Utes are currently in a three-way tie for third with Arizona State and Colorado — one game behind frontrunner Arizona and one-half game behind second-place USC. Last place UCLA is just one-half game behind the third-place trio.
“Two or three weeks from now you’ll start to look at it more and look at who’s got what games left and that type of thing. Right now there’s so much football to be played it really doesn’t serve much of a purpose to analyze it right now.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, on the Pac-12 standings
Things are tight. However, it’s still early. Most teams still have five Pac-12 games left to play. A berth in the conference championship game weighs in the balance.
During Utah’s bye week, Whittingham acknowledged that it was still too early and that he hasn’t even looked too much at what was happening in the Pac-12.
“Two or three weeks from now you’ll start to look at it more and look at who’s got what games left and that type of thing,” he said. “Right now there’s so much football to be played it really doesn’t serve much of a purpose to analyze it right now.”
Utah’s mantra is to go 1-0 each week. The next opportunity to meet that goal is this weekend at Reser Stadium in Corvallis. Oregon State enters the contest on the heels of a 48-31 win over UCLA Saturday at the Rose Bowl. Seniors Jake Luton and Artavis Pierce led the way. Luton threw five touchdown passes, and Pierce ran for 119 yards.
The Utes, meanwhile, are coming off a 38-13 triumph over Washington State on Sept. 28.
Whittingham said the fondness for his team is trending upward. He added that it’s happened for two years in a row now, explaining that other teams weren’t bad there’s just something that has set them apart.
“Really it’s the leadership, I think, is what the biggest positive is,” said Whittingham, who noted that this team has picked up where last year’s squad with leaders like Cody Barton and Chase Hansen left off.
“They’re having fun. They’re having a good time and they’re working hard,” Whittingham said. “There’s having fun and not working hard, which doesn’t work. But if you’re having fun and working hard that’s a pretty powerful combination.”
No. 15 Utah (4-1, 1-1) at Oregon State (2-3, 1-1)
Reser Stadium — Corvallis, Ore.
Saturday, 6 p.m. (MT)
TV: Pac-12 Networks
Radio: ESPN 700AM