After an incredible game last week, the University of Utah is tied with Arizona State atop the Pac-12 South division, with ASU at 3-0, Utah at 2-0, UCLA at 2-1, USC at 2-3, and both CU and Arizona at 0-2. Unlike USC, which had very wide variability in their scores, ASU’s overall scores have been between 83.3 on the high end (against SUU) and 73.4 on the low end (against BYU). Here’s what they lost from last year and what the Utes are likely to see this week:

Who they lost on offense:

C - Cote: Cote was an occasional starter, and started all of 2020, but played only 421 snaps in 4 years at ASU and was rated 56.3 last year. I’m not sure where he is, but he’s no longer on ASU’s roster.

WR - Darby: Darby was the #4 WR by snaps with 108 and #5 among the active WR by rating, checking in at 59.3. He was 5th in catches with 5, but was 2nd in receiving yards with 120 (24.0 ypc) and 1 TD.

WR - Davis: Davis was the #7 WR by snaps with 35 and #4 by rating, checking in at 64.6. He didn’t have any catches and transferred to Dixie in the off-season.

TE - Horn: Horn transferred from UMASS last year and played only 40 snaps, rating 56.3.

Those are the only four losses on the offense with more than 20 snaps. None of them are serious losses, which explains why ASU has been so consistent on offense this year.

Here are the defensive losses:

DT - Lole: Lole played 258 snaps last year and 1,391 as a Sun Devil. He had tricep surgery in the offseason and it’s unknown if he’ll be able to return. He was fantastic last year, rated 85.9 (#1 on the team) and getting 18 QB pressures, 24 tackles, 5 TFL, 1.5 sacks, 2 PBU, and 1 FF.

DT - Randle: Randle played 23 snaps as a RS FR last year and is no longer listed on the roster. He had 1 tackle last year.

That’s it. The only serious loss on either side of the ball in the off-season was Lole, who was a fantastic DL. There’s a reason ASU is playing so well.

Now here’s who to expect this week. First, the offense:

QB - Daniels: Daniels has played 356 snaps this year and 1,415 in his career. He’s rated really well this year at 86.9. That’s the highest PFF rating for a QB in the Pac-12. His PFF passing rating is 80.9, which ties him for 2nd with Slovis (just behind OSU’s Nolan). He’s thrown 96/137 (70.1%) for 1269 yards (9.3 ypa) with 4 TD and 3 INT. He’s also run 55 times for 369 yards (6.7 ypa) and 3 TD with only 1 fumble.

Daniels is playing great this year, although he’s still throwing a lot of INT compared to TDs.

RB - White: White has 247 snaps this year (and 361 in his Sun Devil career) and is rated very well at 83.4. This is #2 among Pac-12 RBs, behind only UCLA’s Charbonnet (and just ahead of Utah’s Thomas, who’s 3rd but with much fewer snaps). He has gone 77/421 (5.5 ypc) with 9 TD this year, plus 24 receptions (#1 on the team) for 226 yards and 1 TD.

RB - Ngata: Ngata has played 72 snaps this year and is rated 76.8. He’s had 37 carries for 237 yards (6.4 ypc) with 3 TD.

RB - Trayanum: Trayanum has played 60 snaps this year and is rated 68.8. He’s had 31 carries for 169 yards (5.5 ypc) with 3 TD.

White is a very good RB and the backups are solid. Again, ASU’s offense is playing very well.

WR - Pearsall: Pearsall has 245 snaps this year and 531 in his career. He’s rated 70.1 this year and has 19 catches on 24 targets for 256 yards (13.5 ypc) with 2 TD.

WR - Wilson: Wilson has 201 snaps this year with 320 in his career. He’s rated 64.1 this year and has 12 catches on 22 targets for 154 yards (12.8 ypc) with 1 TD.

WR - Johnson: Johnson has 199 snaps this year and 249 in his career. He’s rated 63.4 this year and has 7 catches on 11 targets for 135 yards (19.3 ypc).

WR - Bunkley-Shelton: Bunkley-Shelton has 143 snaps this year and 272 in his career. He’s rated 72.6 this year and has 18 catches on 23 targets for 234 yards (13.0 ypc) with 1 TD.

WR - Thompson: Thompson’s move to ASU hasn’t paid much dividends. He’s played 111 snaps (less than half what he played last year at Utah) and is rated 56.5. He has 3 catches on 6 targets for 17 yards (5.7 ypc)

Pearsall and Bunkley-Shelton are decent WRs, but the other three aren’t performing very well.

TE - Stivers: Stivers and Hatch are used about equally. Stivers has 131 snaps this year (and 224 in his ASU career after transferring from Harvard before last season) but has only run 14 routes. He’s rated 53.1 this year with no catches.

TE - Hatch: Hatch has 116 snaps this year (and 241 in his ASU career) but has only run 11 routes. Unlike Stivers, he does have 1 catch for 9 yards.

TE - Conyers: TConyers is the “receiving” TE as he’s played 67 snaps and run 23 routes, although he also has only 1 catch for 5 yards.

The TEs are basically extra linemen. If they’re in, expect them to block.

LT - Diesch: Diesch has played every snap this year (377) and has 638 snaps in his ASU career after transferring from ATM before last season. He’s rated very well at 91.2, with 89.2 pass blocking and 89.7 run blocking. He’s given up only 2 pressures and 1 sack. Tafua will have his work cut out for him against Diesch this week.

LG - Henderson: Henderson has played every snap this year and has 995 career snaps. He’s rated 65.9, but is much better pass blocking (80.3) than run blocking (62.5). He’s given up 3 pressures this year, but no sacks.

C - West: West has 369 snaps this year and 1,474 in his career. He’s performing poorly (61.5) compared to last year (79.7). He is also better at pass blocking (75.0) than run blocking (58.5). He’s given up 3 QB pressures, but no sacks.

RG - Hattis: Hattis has also played every snap this year and has 597 snaps in his ASU career after transferring from Stanford before last season. He’s rated 53.8 this year, but again is much better pass blocking (78.7) than run blocking (50.0). He’s given up 3 pressures this year, but no sacks.

RT - Scott: Scott has played 376 snaps this year and 626 snaps in his career. He’s rated well at 76.6 and is good at both pass blocking (79.8) and run blocking (73.8). He’s given up a lot more pressure than Diesch, with 8 pressures, but also hasn’t given up a sack.

The opposite of last week, ASU’s defense is good on the outside and weak in the middle. Utah often has the DTs to take advantage, we’ll see if that’s true this week. Unlike USC last week, ASU can both pass and run, averaging 213 yards rushing (#25 among FBS teams) and 229 yards passing (#71 among FBS teams). Daniels is more dangerous because of his mobility, but unlike the last two years he’s an effective passer this year and is hitting 70% of his passes. If he’s struggling, the team can rely on White to run the ball.

Now a look at the defense.

DT - Davidson: Davidson has 229 snaps this year and 1,185 in his career. He’s rated 75.8 this year and has 6 QB pressures, 25 tackles, 4.5 TFL, 1 sack, and 2 PBU. He suffered a hand injury and is listed as questionable, but I expect him to play.

DT - Forman: Forman has 201 snaps this year and 1,186 in his career. He’s rated 53.5 this year and has 5 QB pressures and 9 tackles.

DT - Pesefea: Pesefea has 138 snaps this year and 323 in his career. He’s rated 55.0 this year and has 6 QB pressures, 5 tackles, and 1 PBU.

DT - Norman-Lott: Norman-Lott has 127 snaps this year and 155 in his career. He’s rated 54.5 this year and has 8 QB pressures, 16 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 2 sacks.

DE - Johnson: Johnson has 210 snaps this year and 1,118 in his career. He’s rated 79.1 and has 14 QB pressures, 15 tackles, 5.5 TFL and 3 sacks.

DE - Matus: Matus has 208 snaps this year and 482 career snaps. He’s rated 67.2 this year and has 10 QB pressures, 8 tackles, 0.5 TFL, and 0.5 sacks.

DE - Cooper: Cooper has 186 snaps this year and 324 career snaps. He’s rated 67.4 this year and has 10 QB pressures, 15 tackles, 4.5 TFL, and 3.5 sacks.

DE - Moore: Moore has played 98 snaps this year after transferring from LSU last year. He’s rated 70.5 and has 11 QB pressures, 6 tackles, 2.5 TFL, and 1 sack.

This is a pretty good DL, getting a lot of pressure. They’re better on the edge, but Davidson is good in the middle too.

LB - Butler: Butler has 335 snaps this year and 2,001 career snaps. He’s rated 81.6 this year and has 6 QB pressures, 39 tackles, 6 TFL, 2 sacks, 2 INT, and 2 PBU this year.

LB - Robertson: Robertson has 280 snaps this year and 2,139 career snaps. He’s rated 65.7 this year and has 2 QB pressures, 29 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1 INT, and 1 PBU this year.

LB - Soelle: Soelle has 274 snaps this year and 869 career snaps. He’s rated 57.4 this year and has 9 QB pressures, 39 tackles, 3.5 TFL, and 1 sack.

LB - Gentry: Gentry has 107 snaps this year, his first year, and is rated 78.2. He has 1 QB pressure, 16 tackles, 3 TFL, and 1 PBU

Butler is very good, and Gentry has been good in relief. Robertson is solid. Soelle is the weak link at this level, but he’s mostly brought down by a very poor coverage rating (42.3). If Utah can get him matched up on a RB or a TE, he’ll give up yards, but otherwise this is a solid unit.

CB - Jones: Jones has 355 snaps this year with 2,031 in his career, and is rated 79.7, which is a good rating. He’s given up 16 receptions on 25 targets (64%) and has 23 tackles, 1 TFL, 2 sacks, and 4 PBU.

CB - Lucas: Lucas has 232 snaps this year and 2,790 in his career. He’s rated 70.4 this year, which is pretty good. He’s given up 12 receptions on 20 targets (60%) and has 13 tackles and 2 PBU. Lucas is listed as questionable, but the injury is unknown.

CB - Williams: Williams has 134 snaps this year, his first year of college football, and is rated 65.4, which is decent. He’s given up 4 receptions on 11 targets (36.4%) and has 4 tackles and 3 PBU.

CB - Davis: Davis has 121 snaps this year and 433 in his ASU career (he transferred from Baylor after his Freshman season). He’s rated 63.1 this year and has given up 4 catches on 8 targets, with 7 tackles and 1 PBU.

CB - Clark: Clark has 89 snaps this year and 379 in his career. He’s rated 65.1 this year and has given up 9 catches on 14 targets (64.3%) with 9 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 INT, and 2 PBU.

S - Pierce: Pierce has 377 snaps this year and 654 as a Sun Devil after transferring from Boise prior to the 2020 season. He’s rated 61.2 and has given up 9 receptions on 17 targets (52.9%) with 27 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack, and 1 INT.

S - Fields: Fields has 256 snaps this year and 1,767 in his career. He’s rated 63.0 with 9 receptions on 12 targets (75.0%) with 23 tackles and 0.5 TFL.

S - Markham: Markham (who I assume is Alex’s cousin… I’m kidding) has 94 snaps this year and 243 in his career. He’s rated 68.5 and has given up 1 reception on 4 targets with 7 tackles.

ASU’s corners are pretty good but their safeties are weak. Depending on the coverage, there may be some opportunities available for the tight ends or on the deep ball.

ASU has a good defense. They’re 20th in passing yards allowed (181.3) and 33rd in rush yards allowed (116.7). One thing that ASU is bad at right now is penalties. They commit an average of 9 per game, which is good for 126th worst in the country.

Arizona State is a good and well-rounded team. I think turnovers are the crucial stat. ASU’s loss to BYU came down almost completely to turnovers, giving the ball up 4 times. If Utah wins the turnover battle, I think they probably win. But ASU is playing well right now, and looking at the individual players, I expect ASU to win a close one.

Prediction: Utah 20, ASU 23