Arizona State (5-1) at Utah (3-2)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 8 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium (51,444 capacity)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: WatchESPN
- Radio: ESPN 700 AM
- Series: ASU leads, 22-9
- Weather: Clear with temperatures in the high 40s at kickoff.
THE TRENDS
For Arizona State … After falling to BYU in their only loss of the season, the Sun Devils have won their first three Pac-12 Conference games against Colorado, UCLA and Stanford.
For Utah … Utah has won its first two conference games, beating Washington State and USC.
WHAT TO WATCH FOR
Arizona State runs the ball about 62% of the time, so Utah’s first priority will be stopping the run.
Sun Devils quarterback Jayden Daniels is a threat to run, having rushed for 369 yards and three touchdowns on 55 runs this year, making him ASU’s second-leading rusher.
The Sun Devils’ ground game is led by Rachaad White, who has 421 yards and nine touchdowns on 77 carries this season. He’s also caught 24 passes for 226 yards and a score.
Daniyel Ngata — 237 yards and three touchdowns on 37 carries — and DeaMonte Trayanum — 169 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries — make up the rest of the Sun Devils backfield.
Utah has been successful in stopping the run over the past two Pac-12 games, holding Washington State to 70 yards rushing and limiting USC to 92 yards rushing.
KEY PLAYER
Jayden Daniels. QB, Arizona State: Daniels’ first game as a Sun Devil at Rice-Eccles Stadium didn’t go well. Utah’s defense terrorized Daniel in 2019 as Utah won 21-3 in a downpour. Daniels was 4 of 18 for only 25 passing yards and threw an interception. He was also sacked three times by Bradlee Anae.
This season, Daniels has thrown for 1,269 yards and four touchdowns and has been picked off three times. He has a 70.1% completion percentage.
He’s also a very capable runner and has rushed for 369 yards and three touchdowns this season.
Though Utah’s 2021 defense isn’t quite as talented as the 2019 defense, if Utah can sack Daniels early, perhaps he’ll remember his 2019 visit and get a little nervous.
QUOTABLE
“Arizona State this week, good football team, first place in the Pac-12 South, 3-0. They’re solid across the board. Their quarterback is dynamic, very balanced on offense, good running back, good receiving corps, offensive line is playing well. Defensively, they’re playing well. There really is not any weakness that you can pick apart. We’ve got to play exceptional football this weekend, and it should hopefully be a great matchup.”
— Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham on Arizona State
“We play a tough opponent in Utah. They haven’t lost any conference games in the south. They’re kind of sitting like we’re sitting right now. Very physical football team in all three phases of football and very well coached.
“There’s a blend of young talented players on both sides. They have some really good running backs, big powerful guys. I think the quarterback has given them a spark. He does a nice job of running with the ball at times, throwing the ball down the field.
“The defense is very stingy with points. They’ve always been really good defensively. They play good in the red zone. Good on third down.
“Tough place to play, really tough place. They have a nice fan base. We anticipate it will be loud. We’ll make sure that we work on that this week as we have worked on it since we left BYU so hopefully it’ll help us.”
— Arizona State head coach Herm Edwards on preparing for Utah
NEXT UP
Utah travels to Oregon State on Oct. 23; Arizona State has a bye next week before hosting Washington State on Oct. 30.
UTAH SCHEDULE
Sept. 2 — Utah 40, Weber State 17
Sept. 11 — BYU 26, Utah 17
Sept. 18 — San Diego State 33, Utah 31 (3OT)
Sept. 25 — Washington State (12:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
Oct. 2 — Utah 24, Washington State 13
Oct. 9 — Utah 42, USC 26
Oct. 16 — Arizona State (8 p.m., ESPN)
Oct. 23 — at Oregon State (5:30 p.m., Pac-12 Network)
Oct. 30 — UCLA
Nov. 5 — at Stanford (8:30 p.m., FS1)
Nov. 13 — at Arizona
Nov. 20 — Oregon
Nov. 26 — Colorado
All times MDT