Stanford (3-6, 1-6) at No. 13 Utah (7-2, 5-1)
Kickoff: 8 p.m. MST
Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
TV: ESPN
Livestream: https://www.espn.com
Radio: KALL 700
Series: Utah leads 6-4
Weather: Partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the 30s.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes have won three straight games. Utah is the only Pac-12 team to rank in the top-35 nationally in both total offense and total defense.
For Stanford: The Cardinal has lost two consecutive games. Stanford’s offense is tied for No. 4 nationally in turnovers lost and it ranks No. 82 in total offense. The defense is even worse — No. 102 nationally in total defense.
What to watch for
Utah is still in the hunt for a Pac-12 championship and can’t afford to look ahead to next week’s massive showdown at No. 6 Oregon.
The Utes shouldn’t have too much trouble with the Cardinal, which has struggled most of the season. However, Stanford knocked off Notre Dame a few weeks ago in South Bend.
Key player
Tanner McKee, Stanford quarterback: The 6-foot-6 junior has completed 193 of 318 passes for 2,208 yards with seven interceptions and 11 touchdowns.
Quotable
“They just haven’t been able to get in sync very often this year. Yet they beat Notre Dame at Notre Dame. They’re a little bit hot and cold. But they do have talent. They play hard on defense. They didn’t play their best (last) Saturday against Washington State.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
“We need them to come out and play their best football. Utah is a very good opponent. They don’t make a lot of mistakes. They play really hard and physical. That’s the kind of game it’s going to be.” — Stanford coach David Shaw
Next up
Utah visits Oregon on Nov. 19.
Stanford travels to California on Nov. 19.
Utah schedule
Sept. 3 — Florida 29, Utah 26
Sept. 10 — Utah 73, Southern Utah 7
Sept. 17 — Utah 35, San Diego State 7
Sept. 24 — Utah 34, Arizona State 13
Oct. 1 — Utah 42, Oregon State 16
Oct. 8 — UCLA 42, Utah 32
Oct. 15 — Utah 43, USC 42
Oct. 27 — Utah 21, Washington State 17
Nov. 5 — vs. Arizona
Nov. 12 — vs. Stanford (8 p.m. MST)
Nov. 19 — at Oregon (TBD)
Nov. 26 — at Colorado (TBD)