Utah (5-2, 2-2 Big 12) vs. Colorado (3-4, 1-3 Big 12)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
- Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City)
- TV: ESPN
- Livestream: Watch ESPN
- Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
- Series: Utah leads, 35-33-3. Colorado dominated the series early on and beat the Utes 49-24 last season in Boulder, though Utah has won 11 of the teams’ past 14 meetings since the Utes joined the Pac-12 in 2011.
- Weather: Cloudy with temperatures in the low 60s at kickoff, staying in the low 60s to high 50s by end of game.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes are coming off a devastating 24-21 loss to BYU in just the fourth meeting between the two rivals when both teams were ranked heading into the contest.
It was Utah’s second loss in its past four games, dropping the Utes to 2-2 in Big 12 play. While Utah is far from being eliminated in the conference race, the Utes can ill-afford another loss, particularly against a Colorado team that currently is under .500 on the season.
For Colorado: The Buffaloes are coming off their first bye week of the season. Prior to that, Colorado upset then-ranked Iowa State for its first Big 12 win of the year.
The Buffaloes’ four losses this year have come against schools — Georgia Tech, Houston, BYU and TCU — that have a combined 25-3 record.
What to watch for
Who is going to play quarterback for Utah during the matchup?
As of Friday afternoon, that was uncertain. Devon Dampier was banged up in the Utes’ loss to BYU, and he was listed as questionable on both Wednesday and Thursday’s Big 12 availability reports.
If he can’t go, true freshman Byrd Ficklin will get his first career start.
The Utes are a double-digit favorite, but the game could be more competitive than anticipated if Ficklin starts and the Buffaloes are able to rattle the freshman.
Utah has a distinct advantage there, though, in the fact that its offensive line is only allowing 0.86 sacks per game — tied for ninth nationally — while Colorado is 122nd in the country in sacks (1.14).
Ficklin has been effective in his limited snaps this season, primarily in mop-up duty — though he had three carries for 16 yards against BYU last week.
So far this year, Ficklin has completed all nine of his pass attempts for 138 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 111 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
Key players
Wayshawn Parker, NaQuari Rogers and Daniel Bray, RB: The Utes offense is at its best when it is able to follow the lead of its rushing game to methodically march the ball down the field and capitalize on third and fourth downs.
The Utes are likely to rely on their running game again — Utah comes into the matchup No. 6 in the country in rushing offense, averaging 245 yards per game behind its mammoth offensive line, while Colorado is giving up 188 rushing yards per contest.
With the possibility of Dampier being out, though, can Utah’s running back committee pick up some slack? Parker, Rogers and Bray have all had their moments this season, though none of them are in the top 15 rushers in the Big 12 in terms of total rushing yards.
Bray is coming off a 121-yard game against the Cougars, as he attacked the edges and scored on a 49-yard touchdown.
Parker, too, has shown an ability to break off chunk plays and leads the group with 358 rushing yards and five total touchdowns this season.
If Utah’s running backs can keep the offense churning and take time off the clock, that keeps the ball out of the hands of Colorado quarterback Kaidon Salter.
While Salter isn’t the most dangerous QB in the Big 12, the dual-threat is No. 17 in ESPN’s QBR rating and has thrown for five touchdowns and no interceptions in Colorado’s last two wins.
In their last two losses, though, Salter had thrown three touchdowns to four interceptions. He’s struggled more often than not this year in critical moments when a big pass play is needed.
If Utah’s running backs help force Salter into passing situations, that could be beneficial for the Utes on both sides of the ball.
Quotable
“Coach (Kyle) Whittingham. Unbelievable. He’s a pillar of consistency. One of my heroes in his coaching realm. He’s been doing it for quite some time. I wish I could have the tenure he’s had at Utah.
“His team resembles who he is as a man, how he played the game. Physical, tough, consistent. … Coach Whittingham is one of those ones that you are lucky that you have him as your head coach and I think Utah understands that.” — Colorado coach Deion Sanders
“I know they’re 3-4, but the combined record of those four losses of the teams they played is 25-3. They’ve played some really good teams and they are a much better football team than their record indicates, I can tell you that for certain.
“We’ve got to be at our best and be ready and (we’ve) got to have a great week of preparation, like always, and just continue our process. We are just over the halfway point, so a lot of football (left) to be played this season.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Next up
- Utah: vs. No. 21 Cincinnati
- Colorado: vs. Arizona
Utah schedule
- Aug. 30 — at UCLA, W 43-10
- Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly, W 63-9
- Sept. 13 — at Wyoming, W 31-6
- Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech, L 34-10
- Sept. 27 — at West Virginia, W 48-14
- Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State, W 42-10
- Oct. 18 — at BYU, L 24-21
- Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado
- Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati
- Nov. 15 — at Baylor
- Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State
- Nov. 28 — at Kansas