Burning Questions: Utes Head into Week 12
The University of Utah had a crushing defeat last Saturday against the Oregon Ducks. The USC Trojans have claimed their spot into the Pac-12 Championship Game, but thanks to the conference’s change to division-less football, Utah’s championship hopes are still alive.
Let’s take a look back at the burning questions from Oregon and look ahead to the final week of the 2022 regular season:
Is it Cam Rising vs. Bo Nix or Ty Thompson?
Both quarterbacks came into this match-up not 100 percent. Bo Nix returned under center for the Oregon Ducks with a banged up ankle, while Cam Rising has been dealing with nagging injury problems as well.
Unfortunately for Rising, it wasn’t his night as he struggled to get into a rhythm, and costly mistakes during major opportunities killed any chance for a comeback win. Rising would finish the night completing 21 of 38 passes for 171 yards and three interceptions.
Bo Nix would finish the night completing 25 of 37 passes for 287 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His lack of mobility played a part but the plays he made controlled the game enough to pull off the win.
With two dominant offensive lines, who wins the battle?
Both defenses controlled the line of scrimmage. Neither team looked great in run blocking —Utah had 156 yards on 36 carries and Oregon had 59 on 25 carries—but Oregon’s beat up line was able to give a hobbled Nix enough time to make crucial plays.
How effective will Utah be at stopping the run?
Utah’s defense did a good job of shutting down the run game against the Ducks. The Utes killed their usual average 202 yards per game, holding Oregon to 59 yards total yards rushing; averaging only 2.4 yards per carry.
Noah Whittington finished the night with 10 carries for 53 yards and Bucky Irving with 10 carries for 20 yards. Utah forced loss of yardage on several run plays, giving the offense several opportunities to pull ahead. Unfortunately, that never happened.
Despite the loss, the Utes still have an opportunity at going to the Pac-12 Championship Game. They just don’t control their own destiny, now. Here are the burning questions for this week:
Which version of Rising shows up?
Utah’s team leader delivered one of the most epic performances in Utah history against USC, but in the process he got hurt and that injury has continued to linger. He’s been noticeably off his game and last Saturday in his postgame remarks, he took responsibility for his play.
Colorado is not a good football team. Because of this, Rising should excel, even if it’s a scaled down playbook due to his lingering leg issue. He’s a resilient competitor that should come out with a point to prove and a statement to make.
All of that being said, the faster Utah can build a big lead, the better, so Rising can rest up for the next game and backups can get some valuable time.
Will Colorado be playing for their coach?
After starting the season 0-5, the Colorado Buffaloes fired Karl Dorrell and placed the Interim tag on Mike Sanford Jr. Since then, the results have been much better, as they’ve gone 1-5. Their line win was against Cal on November 15.
No one expects Colorado to win this game. Still, you have a Utah team that is down after a rough Oregon performance and a Colorado team that could be motivated to make Sanford look good for his next job.
Crazy things can happen in college football, but a bad Colorado team beating No. 14 Utah shouldn’t be one of them.
Is “doable chaos” realistic?
Yes. The Pac-12 likes to eat their own and you can always count on surprises. In this scenario, it can be both good and bad.
Utah obviously needs to beat Colorado, first and foremost. Then, Oregon State needs to beat Oregon, UCLA needs to beat Cal, and Washington needs to beat Washington State.
Of those three games that Utah has no control over, UCLA should easily beat Cal. Oregon and Oregon State seem to frequently have intense matchups. Both teams come into the game ranked with the Beavers playing well.
If those two scenarios work in Utah’s favor, they’ll need to wait late into the night for Washington to avoid getting upset in the Apple Cup—a game that could easily end up being an upset.