Anyone aware of the College Football Playoff rankings heading into Week 14 knew Utah’s at-large bid aspirations were almost slim to none. Those who understood t …
Anyone aware of the College Football Playoff rankings heading into Week 14 knew Utah’s at-large bid aspirations were almost slim to none.
Those who understood the several scenarios in play for the Big 12 championship game had a similar outlook regarding the Utes’ conference title hopes.
But nothing was set in stone going into the week of Thanksgiving, giving Utah plenty of reasons to end the regular season on a high note as it faced Kansas (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) in a pivotal matchup from David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium (Friday 10 a.m. MT, ESPN).
The Utes would need to take care of business against the Jayhawks in order to preserve what chances they had left to punch a ticket to Arlington, Texas, for the Big 12 title game on Dec. 6. A loss would also dash their College Football Playoff at-large case for certain, given Utah was the second team out of the 12-team bracket in the latest CFP rankings.
Here’s what the Utes need to do to take care of business against the Jayhawks.
Kyle Whittingham’s halftime speech, which made it rounds on social media following Utah’s comeback win over Kansas State, was inspiring and goosebump-inducing, and apparently exactly the fire the Utes needed to spark their second half rally.
But if Whittingham has to give a similar pep-talk on Friday, it’ll be cause for concern.
“We just didn’t fit the fit the run game up at all, and it was an historically bad day defending the run,” Whittingham said during his weekly press conference. “We got to have a better answer than we had last week.”
Kansas State gashed Utah with a simple power run scheme, ripping off runs of 44, 37, 66, 33, 58, 80, 33 and 24 yards to finish with a school-record 472 yards on the ground. Joe Jackson accounted for 293 of those yards, averaging 12.2 per carry against an inept Utah defense.
The Utes failed to match the Wildcats’ physicality up front and didn’t defend the gaps well enough to contain Jackson and Antonio Martin (89 yards on 5 carries).
It would be reasonable to conclude it was just an off day for defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley’s unit, though it also wasn’t the first time Utah struggled to defend the run in Big 12 play. In fact, the Utes allowed over 200 yards rushing in three of their previous five games leading into Friday’s contest, yielding 5.7 yards per carry during that stretch.
The good news for the Utes: the Jayhawks offense isn’t some unstoppable force that gives its opponents fits. Kansas ranks No. 11 in the Big 12 with 157.2 rush yards per game and has crossed the 200-yard threshold just once over the last two months.
If the Utes can keep Kansas dual-threat quarterback Jalon Daniels contained, Utah should have a much easier time defending the run in comparison to last week.
Moving the chains hasn’t been a problem for the Utes to this point — they rank No. 2 in the Football Bowl Subdivision in total first downs (287) and No. 3 in third down conversion percentage (52.7%), amounting to one of the most efficient and productive offenses in the country.
Staying on schedule will be pivotal this week, though. Kansas ranks No. 15 in the FBS with 6.8 tackles for loss per game, with linebackers Bangally Kamara (9.5 tackles for loss) and Trey Lathan (7.5) leading the charge.
Kamara, Lathan and the rest of the Jayhawks defense had a rough day against the Cyclones, allowing 462 total yards of offense and a season-high 3 touchdown passes to Rocco Becht despite finishing with 9 tackles for loss and forcing 16 third down tries.
The problem for the Jayhawks was that the Cyclones converted nine of those third down attempts and went 5-for-10 when needing to pick up 4 yards or less.
While Utah’s been among the best teams in the country when it comes to money downs, third-and-long situations haven’t been easy to convert. The Utes have come up short on nine of their last 10 tries on third-and-9 or longer dating back to the Cincinnati game.
That said, Utah will want to keep itself in manageable down-and-distance scenarios on Friday. Not having leading receiver Ryan Davis could make that easier said than done, but assuming All-American tackle Spencer Fano is good to go after being helped off the field during the Kansas State game, the Utes should be able to lean on their potent run game.
Utah can achieve what it wants to on both sides of the ball by playing its brand of football. That means winning in the trenches, being disciplined on defense and controlling time of possession behind a dominant offensive line that’s on the verge of helping make history.
Needing 188 rushing yards to set a new single-season program record, it would hardly be a surprise to see the Utes break the 40-year-old record established by the 1984 team in their regular season finale.
It would be something, though, if they clinched a spot in the Big 12 title game while doing so.
MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS
Source: Utah News