Keys and Position Battles: Utah vs Washington

Following a dominant victory and their most productive performance of the season against Arizona State, the University of Utah now faces a critical matchup with the No. 5 Washington Huskies as their hopes of a third consecutive Pac-12 Championship appearance hang by a thread.

If the No. 18 Utes can upset the Huskies, those hopes remain alive. Lose, and the final year of the Pac-12 will not feature the reigning back-to-back Conference Champions in the title game.

Here are the keys to the game:

The secondary has to step up

When facing an undefeated team, there’s not necessarily a clear blueprint for how to beat them, but one thing is for sure, Utah’s secondary has to ball out and slow down the Huskies juggernaut passing game.

For the year, Washington has amassed 3,448 passing yards (383 YPG) and 27 touchdowns. They also average a whopping 41 points per game and a first down each time a pass is thrown (10.1 yards per pass).

Michael Penix Jr. is simply special this season. With his arm strength, creativity, and mobility, he is incredibly difficult to contain. But completely stopping him doesn’t need to be the goal. Just slow him down. In three of their closest games (Oregon, ASU, and USC), the key was keeping Penix right around 300 yards to give offenses a chance to match and make things interesting.

If the Utah secondary can clamp down on receivers and keep Penix under 300 yards, that should give them their best chance to win the football game.

Win the red-zone battle

Obviously, this is a battle you want to win every week, but this aspect of the game is going to be critical against Washington.

Through nine games, the Huskies have scored on 42 of 49 red-zone trips (86%). Of the 49, 36 (73%) of those have resulted in touchdowns. On the flipside, Utah has only allowed 12 touchdowns on 21 (57%) red-zone trips by their opponents.

That needs to be the type of defense that Utah plays inside their own territory. Even if the Huskies meet their average of a little more than five red-zone trips per game, If Utah can hold to their average, that should keep the scoring lower and give the offense a chance to keep the game close.

Additionally, third down is going to be huge. Against the Ducks and Sun Devils, Washington was a combined 8/22 (36%) on third downs. They only won those two games by a collective 11 points.

If the Utes can stay stout in the red-zone and on third downs, the Huskies won’t run away with it.

Mirror the ASU game: run the ball effectively

It’s highly unlikely that the Utes are going to sling it for 200+ yards against the Huskies, so they need to do their best to mirror the ASU game and put up big numbers on the ground as the primary source of offense.

Most of Washington's close games have been shootouts and decided by just a possession or two. For the year, the Huskies are averaging 509 yards of total offense per game but giving up 413.

Taking a look at Utah’s offensive numbers, they’ve averaged 352 yards per game with 192 on the ground. If the Utes want any shot at winning this game, they’ll have to come close to 400 yards of offense and at least two-thirds of that will likely need to come on the ground.

Position Battles

Quarterback

This is no contest. Penix Jr. has 3200 yards and 26 touchdowns. Let’s move on.

Running Backs

This one is actually relatively close with both squads top rushers around 600-700 yards and a handful of contributors with a few hundred as well. A healthy Ja’Quinden Jackson would give Utah the edge, but unfortunately his ankle continues to be a season long injury. Just as he seemed ready and healthy enough to explode again, he re-injured it on the awkward ASU tackle on his long touchdown run.

Jaylon Glover is going to have to have a big game today, as it’s unknown how much Utah will want to line Sione Vaki up in the backfield going forward.

Wide Receivers

You don’t pass for 3200 yards through nine games without several incredibly talented wide receivers. Between Rome Odunze and Ja’Lynn Polk the two have accounted for nearly 1,900 of those yards. Watch out for those two, they’re a highlight reel waiting to happen.

Tight Ends

Jack Westover is currently the Huskies No. 3 receiving option behind Odunze and Polk with almost 200 yards and four touchdowns. Utah is just too plagued with injury at tight end to compete here. Although, the Utes Landen King is beginning to break out in a big way.

Offensive Line

This is probably a closer contest than some would admit but the Huskies get the edge on this one. Penix doesn’t torch defenses without mostly sound protection.

Defensive Line

Utah’s defensive line has been stellar all season and has continued to get better despite mounting injuries. Now mostly healthy with guys like Jonah Elliss, Van Fillinger, Connor O’Toole, and Junior Tafuna, the Utes aren’t going to lose this battle very often. The only question will be does Washington try to minimize their impact with a steady dose of quick passes?

Linebackers

For one of the few times this season, this is a matchup where the Utes aren’t dominantly better. With Lander Barton out for the season, Utah is still very good and should have the edge, but only marginally.

Secondary

It’s not a wide margin, but Utah’s secondary appears to be more talented and deeper than what the Huskies secondary presents. Overall, Utah has allowed 600 less yards than Washington this season.

Special Teams

Jack Bouwmeester and Cole Becker continue to be very good and valuable weapons.