Utah (1-0) vs. Cal Poly (1-0)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 4 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium
- TV/Livestream: ESPN+
- Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
- Series: First meeting
- Weather: Mostly cloudy with temperatures in the low 80s at kickoff, falling to high 70s by end of game.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes jumped into the top-25 rankings — at No. 25 in the Associated Press rankings — after dismantling UCLA in the team’s season opener last week.
Utah hasn’t lost to an FCS (previously I-AA) opponent since 1993 and is a heavy favorite against the Mustangs, who were projected to finish 11th out of 12 teams in the Big Sky Conference this season.
For Cal Poly: The Mustangs won in their opener, beating San Diego 41-17 after storming out to a 24-0 first-half lead.
What to watch for
After having to endure offensive woes the past two seasons, it was a breath of fresh air for Utah fans to watch a fun, high-scoring offense in the opener against UCLA.
This will be the first chance for most in the Salt Lake City crowd to see quarterback Devon Dampier and his group live.
Utah was 14 of 16 on third down against the Bruins, rolling up 492 yards of offense while scoring touchdowns on six of their nine possessions as they controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides.
That’s a far cry from the struggles of the past two seasons.
Dampier lived up to the hype by completing 21 of 25 passes for 206 yards and two touchdowns against UCLA, while also rushing for 87 yards and another score.
The Utes used defenders Smith Snowden, Lander Barton and Jackson Bennee effectively on offense last week, while also getting the ground game on track with Wayshawn Parker and NaQuari Rogers running behind Utah’s renowned offensive line.
One question to watch this week is, can Utah get more out of its wide receivers group?
“I think we need to get Tobias (Merriweather) a little more involved. He’s a weapon for us,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said at his weekly press conference Monday. “You saw him catch a deep ball and then draw a (pass interference) on another deep ball and that’s really his thing. He seems to have a good knack for getting free up the field.”
Key player
John Henry Daley, DE: While a lot of attention will be paid early on to Utah’s offense, the Utes’ defense is breaking in some young players to complement their veterans on that side of the ball.
Daley, a redshirt sophomore who transferred from BYU, is one of those players, and in the win over UCLA, he gave fans a taste of what he can bring to Utah’s defensive front.
Daley earned the start and finished with three tackles and a team-high two sacks, including one that preceded an interception during the second half.
While Mustangs quarterback Ty Dieffenbach threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns last week while rushing for a team-high 69 yards and another score, Cal Poly’s offensive line gave up two sacks and will be challenged by the Utes and Daley.
Quotable
“We’ve got nothing to lose in these games. We’ve got that fuel. They recruited me at high school, they didn’t offer me, so I got that, too. I want to go show them that we can play, you know what I mean. Like I said, we have nothing to lose in this game. Go out and play hard. We’re not really worried about them. We’re trying to focus on us as an offense and just go play and execute.” — Cal Poly quarterback Ty Dieffenbach, on the “Mustang Insider Show.”
“We did a good job controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and that was the biggest difference.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham on victory over UCLA
Next up
- Utah: at Wyoming
- Cal Poly: vs. Western Oregon
Utah schedule
- Aug. 30 — at UCLA, W 43-10
- Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly
- Sept. 13 — at Wyoming
- Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech
- Sept. 27 — at West Virginia
- Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State
- Oct. 18 — at BYU
- Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado
- Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati
- Nov. 15 — at Baylor
- Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State
- Nov. 28 — at Kansas