The game will start on ESPNews.
San Diego State (1-1) at No. 14 Utah (1-1)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 8 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
- TV: ESPN2
- Radio: KALL 700
- Live stream: Watch ESPN
- Series: Utah leads 17-13-1.
- Weather: Temperatures in the 60s with a chance of scattered thunderstorms.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes are looking for their ninth-consecutive home victory. With a win, Utah would record its 300th all-time victory over Mountain West Conference opponents. The Utes are 28-4 — and 19-0 at Rice-Eccles Stadium — in regular season nonconference games since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.
For SDSU: Last year’s 33-31 triple-overtime victory over Utah snapped a five-game losing streak to the Utes. It was the Aztecs’ first win over Utah since 2005. Before last year’s game, the two programs had not met since 2010.
What to watch for
Utah is a three-touchdown favorite over San Diego State. The Utes will be looking to avenge last year’s 33-31 loss in Carson, California. In that game, quarterback Cam Rising replaced Charlie Brewer and gave Utah a much-needed spark and Rising ended up leading the Utes to their first Pac-12 title.
The Aztecs rank No. 4 nationally in rushing offense. They ran for 380 yards last week in a 38-7 victory over Idaho State. This marks SDSU’s first road game of the season.
Key player
Jordan Byrd, running back/return specialist San Diego State: The senior is a dangerous playmaker. Byrd returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown and he recorded a 53-yard touchdown run last week against Idaho State.
Quotable
“It just seemed like we were way out of sync in that game. It was not a good experience. We just didn’t play well. After the outcome, moving forward, it turned out to be a change in our season because of the quarterback change and we went with Cam the rest of the way. It ended up being a pretty good year.”
— Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
“I know one thing — we want to go out, and play well. We want to compete and we want to win.”
— SDSU coach Brady Hoke
Next up
Utah visits Arizona State next Saturday.
San Diego State hosts Toledo next Saturday.
Utes schedule
Sept. 3 — Florida 29, Utah 26
Sept. 10 — Utah 73, Southern Utah 7
Sept. 17 — vs. San Diego State (8 p.m., ESPN2)
Sept. 24 — at Arizona State (8:30 p.m., ESPN2)
Oct. 1 — vs. Oregon State (TBD)
Oct. 5 — vs. Arizona (TBD)
Oct. 15 — vs. USC (TBD)
Oct. 27 — at Washington State (8 p.m., FS1)
Nov. 5 — vs. Arizona (TBD)
Nov. 12 — vs. Stanford (TBD)
Nov. 19 — at Oregon (TBD)
Nov. 26 — at Colorado (TBD)
All times MT