It’s the first conference game of the year and the University of Utah is reeling right now. Although, the change to Cam Rising at quarterback and the spark he has provided, give the Utes hope. Can they fix the problems and build on the positives of the first two games and come up with their first FBS win of the year against a Washington State squad also looking for their first FBS win after losing to USU in week 1 and USC last week? Vegas thinks they can, favoring the Utes by 15 in some casinos. Let’s see what WSU lost from last year and what we should expect to see this week:

Who they lost on offense:

RG - Watson: Watson was a 3-year starter, playing 2,112 snaps and grading at 62.0 last year. He graduated and decided to pursue a career as a firefighter.

WR - Bell: Bell was a 4-year starter, with 1,923 snaps. He was rated 69.9 last year but will miss this year with an ACL injury. Bell was 1st on the team last year in receptions (33), 2nd in receiving yards (337) and tied for first in TD (2). For his career he’s 147/1656 (11.3 ypc) with 16 TD.

WR - Calvin: Calvin was a part-time starter with 1,145 snaps. He was rated 58.5 last year before transferring to Mississippi State this offseason. Calvin was 3rd on the team in receptions (17), yards (183), and tied for 3rd in TD (1). For his WSU career he was 92/980 (10.7 ypc) with 5 TD.

WR - Bacon: Bacon started all four games last year but entered the transfer portal in the off-season. He was rated 53.5 by PFF and played 197 snaps (192 of which were last year). He was 4th in receptions (5) and yards (57) with 1 TD, which are also his career numbers.

That’s a lot of lost WR talent, but if there’s one place you can expect WSU to reload, it’s at WR. Watson is a loss, but not a tremendous one.

Here are the defensive losses:

DE - Rodgers: Rodgers was a 4-year player who started most of 2019 and 2018 before getting hurt in the 2nd game last year against Oregon. He had 1,341 snaps and was rated 63.0 last year. He had 16 tackles and 1 PBU plus 3 QB pressures in just 2 games last year. Rodgers transferred to Temple this offseason.

DE - Lopez: Lopez played 65 snaps last year as a true freshman out of Las Vegas. He was rated 49.4 with 0 tackles but 3 QB pressures. He was held out of fall practice with an injury, but is expected back at some point.

DT - Echevarria: Echevarria played sparingly for 3 years and played 45 snaps last year, but was rated decently at 67.0. He has been repeatedly hurt and hasn’t played this year, but I could not find any idea of his potential return date.

LB - Sherman: Sherman was a 4-year player with a couple of starts. He played 535 snaps in 4 years and was rated 45.3 last year. He had 15 tackles and 0.5 TFL plus 1 PBU last year. Sherman medically retired this off-season.

S - Hector: Hector started two of the three games he played in last year before getting into some off-field trouble in the off-season and entering the transfer portal. He was rated 50.4 by PFF last year with 190 snaps. He had 13 tackles and 1 INT.

Every other defensive player with at least 30 snaps is back. The losses may be addition by subtraction, as none of the lost players were rated very highly, although Rodgers and Echevarria were rated okay.

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

QB - de Laura: De Laura’s offseason suspension is over and he is back after starting most of last year. He has not looked quite as good so far this year, rated 69.5 overall (and 60.2 if you only include the FBS games). He’s gone 43/70 (61.4%) for 575 yards (8.2 ypa) with 6 TD and 2 INT. He’s a solid QB. He might be hurt, however.

If de Laura is hurt, the job could fall to one of several players, including Utah HS product Cooper (65.3 on 15 snaps; 4/5 for 44 yards and 1 INT), Tennessee transfer Guarantano (52.2 on 22 snaps; 8/13 for 56 yards), or walk-on Gabalis (28.5 on 20 snaps; 6/13 for 19 yards). If de Laura can play, he won’t be 100%, and if he can’t the backups have been underwhelming to say the least.

RB - Borghi: Ute fans should be familiar with Borghi, who even in losses has run up big yards on Utah, going 10/95 with a TD last year and 8/51 in 2019. He’s played 97 snaps this year and is rated 76.7 (#1 on the team) with 37/217 (5.9 ypc) with 2 TD.

RB - McIntosh. McIntosh is the #2 RB and has nearly as many snaps as Borghi with 75. He’s not used as often, however, with only 17 carries for 86 yards (5.1 ypc) and 1 TD.

Both RBs are decent and if the Utah offense leaves the defense on the field for long periods again, expect them to be capable of making Utah pay late in the game. If the offense is able to keep the TOP fairly even, Utah should be able to largely contain WSU’s RBs.

WR - Jackson: Jackson has 148 snaps this year and 536 career. He’s rated 73.6 this year (good for #2 on the offense and by far his career best) and his career stats are 56/678 (12.1 ypc) with 4 TD.

WR - Harris: Harris has 167 snaps this year and 1,426 career. He’s rated 61.6 this year and his career stats are 121/1337 (11.0 ypc) with 12 TD.

WR - Stribling: Stribling has 173 snaps this year, his first year as a WSU Cougar. He’s rated 56.1 and has 9 catches for 88 yards (9.8 ypc)

WR - Ollie: Ollie has 167 snaps this year and 185 career. He’s rated 54.2 and has 4 career catches for 53 yards (13.3 ypc) and 1 TD.

Jackson has the fewest snaps of the starting WR but also by far the best stats and rating. Harris is a solid WR. With Broughton out I fully expect Harris to have some opportunities to get open. Utah’s secondary, as is always true playing WSU, will have to be on their game.

LT - Ryan: Ryan has 2,347 career snaps and 184 this year. He’s a good, dependable LT and is rated 63.9 so far this year, which is okay. His first three years he was a better pass blocker than run blocker, but the last two years he’s been much better run blocking, scoring 67.1 this year vs. 53.7 pass blocking. Expect Tafua to be able to get some pressure on this side but watch for Borghi to run to this side, as he slightly favors running to the left, especially outside (11 outside runs to the left, 5 to the right)

LG - Kingston: Kingston has 558 career snaps and 193 this year. He’s rated 56.5, which is poor. He’s a much better pass blocker (77.7) than run blocker (50.4)

C - Gomness: Gomnes is a true freshman and has 187 snaps at WSU, all this year. He’s rated 55.0, which is poor. He’s a better run blocker (59.8) than pass blocker (44.7) but is poor at both.

RG - Beresford: Beresford has 160 career starts and 137 this year. He’s rated 67.2, which is #2 among the starting OL. He’s a much better pass blocker (87.8) than run blocker (64.4).

RT - Lucas: Lucas is a 4-year starter, playing 2,398 snaps in his career and 193 this year. He’s rated 74.0, which is best on the OL. He’s a much better pass blocker (89.5) than run blocker (59.9).

OL - Fifita: I’m sure this Fifita is related to Steve, but I don’t know how. He hasn’t started but played 66 snaps so far this year, mostly at RG, and is rated 67.5. He’s also better passing (75.9) than rushing (65.0)

WSU doesn’t pass quite as much with Rolovich as they did with Leach (who passed about 5 times as often as he ran), but they’re still at nearly 2-1, running 123 passing plays to 71 running plays. The OL gives up pressure on the outside, but not as much on the inside, although they also don’t get a lot of push for the RBs on the inside.

Now a look at the defense:

DE - Jackson: Jackson is rated 77.2 on 138 snaps this year (with 369 career snaps). He has 12 QB pressures already this year, plus 11 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 0.5 sacks, and 1 PBU. He’s the #3 rated player on the defense.

DE - Stone: Amazingly, Stone has the exact same rating as Jackson, with 77.2 on 126 snaps this year. He’s played 754 career snaps, but this is by far his best season rating. He has 7 QB pressures, 14 tackles, 1.5 TFL and 2 PBU.

DE - Taylor: Taylor is one of the backup DEs and has played 109 snaps. He’s a significant dropoff from the starters, rated 51.7 with 9 QB pressures, 2 tackles, 0.5 TFL, and 0.5 sacks.

DE - Edson: This is Edson’s first year in college and he’s playing well. 69 snaps, 72.3 rating with 7 QB pressures, 7 tackles, 4 TFL, and 2 sacks.

DE - Roff: Roff has played 59 snaps this year and 96 in his career and is rated 73.2 with 6 QB pressures, 3 tackles, and 0.5 TFL.

With four good DEs and one okay DE, expect WSU to get pressure if Utah’s OL hasn’t fixed some of their issues. Rising will need to make them pay for blitzing to take some of the heat off, and the OL will need to step up.

DT - Mejia: Mejia has played 99 snaps this year and 146 in his career. He’s rated 59.7 with 5 tackles, 1.5 TFL, and 1 QB pressure.

DT - Crowder: Crowder has 88 snaps this year and 259 career. He’s rated 50.9 with 5 tackles, 0.5 TFL, and 1 QB pressure.

DT - Pule: Pule has 82 snaps this year and 138 career. He’s rated 53.9 with 3 tackles and 1 QB pressure.

DT - Mujahid. Mujahid has 80 snaps this year and 173 career. He’s rated 52.9 with 5 tackles and 1 TFL.

Unlike the DEs, the DTs are not well rated, with nobody above 60. This should be a chance for the center of Utah’s OL to get some push and run over some people while making holes for the RBs. We’ll see if that actually happens.

LB - Woods: Woods has 207 snaps this year and 2,319 career. He’s rated 64.5 this year and is a leader of this defense. He’s #1 in tackles with 23, plus 2.5 TFL and 1 PBU.

LB - Rogers: Rogers has 130 snaps this year and 1,660 career. He’s rated 67.4 this year and is another leader on the defense. He’s #2 in tackles with 14, plus 2 TFL, 1 INT and 1 FF.

LB - Brown: Brown has 97 snaps this year and 364 career. He’s rated 50.8 and has 11 tackles.

The two SR linebackers (Woods and Rogers) are good players and are solid all-arounders. They don’t excel at any one area, but also don’t have many weaknesses. Brown is still a work in progress.

CB - Watson: Watson has 181 snaps this year and 360 career. He’s rated 56.9 this year with 10 tackles and 2 PBU. He’s been targeted 16 times and allowed 11 receptions for 132 yards and 1 TD.

CB - Langford: Langford has 143 snaps this year and 511 career. He’s rated 58.7 this year with 13 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 1 INT and 2 PBU. He’s been targeted 19 times and given up 12 receptions for 122 yards.

NB - Marsh: Marsh is generally a nickel, but has played some corner and safety. He has 123 snaps this year and 837 career. He’s rated 80.9 this year, by far the best on the defense. He has 9 tackles, 2 TFL, 1 INT, 1 PBU, and 1 FF. He’s been targeted 12 times but given up only 6 for 39 yards.

CB - Smith-Wade: Smith-Wade is the main backup, playing 93 snaps this year and 138 career. He’s rated 66.3 and has 5 tackles and 1 PBU this year. He’s been targeted 8 times and given up 5 catches for 43 yards.

FS - Hicks: Hicks has 166 snaps this year and 1,069 career. He’s rated 61.2 with 8 tackles and 1 PBU. He’s been targeted 8 times in coverage and given up 3 receptions for 32 yards.

SS - Isom: Isom transferred from NIU in 2018 and has 145 snaps this year and 1,369 career (including 526 at NIU). He’s rated 59.5 with 10 tackles, 1 PBU, and 1 INT. He’s been targeted 13 times and given up 8 catches for 99 yards and a TD.

S - Hill: Hill is a grad transfer from Buffalo and has played 71 snaps this year, his only year as a WSU player. He has 1,586 snaps in his career. He’s rated 61.8 this year and has 7 tackles. He’s been targeted 3 times and gave up all 3 catches for 41 yards.

The secondary isn’t great outside of Marsh. They give up a lot of receptions and yards, which is somewhat surprising considering how much pressure their DEs are generating.

This is a good WSU defense, but they’re still not great. They give up yards (436 ypg or #107 in the country), and points (31.67 ppg, or #105 in the country). Some of that is playing an angry USC team, but they’re also not great.

I don’t know what to predict. Rising looked good in limited action, and I think it’s clear he’ll be a significant improvement, but Utah has to take care of business against a team that can put up points if they get on a roll. Still, Utah’s defense is better than WSU’s offense, and this should be the worst defense Utah’s faced, particularly against the run. Expect less scoring, but still enough to put Utah ahead. I expect some mistakes, but not enough for WSU to win.

Prediction: Utah 24, SDSU 13.