Statistically Speaking: Utah vs. SJSU

The Utes get their final tune-up game of their non-conference slate against San Jose State, a Mountain West Conference bottom dweller if ever there was one. With little to expect in the way of competition, the keys to look for in the game are going to be if this team can clean up the mental errors and technical problems that have been holding them out of the end zone on offense.

There was a lot to like about last week's matchup against BYU, starting with seven in a row and ending with a BYU team 85 yards away from the winning score and no hope of getting there. There were also justifiable frustrations, as the Utes floundered in the red zone, failing to score touchdowns and being dragged back from good plays by penalty after penalty. Cleaning those up is job number one, but even if they don't, Utah is not losing this game.

San Jose State was really bad last year and the only reason to expect them to improve is that they pretty much can't get worse. Unfortunately, they are doing their best. They've tried out two new quarterbacks with little success and the defense can't seem to stop anyone. There's no exciting talent to speak of and no reason for optimism at all, really.

Utah has two games under their belt and, except for the penalties, they are exceeding expectations. Question marks about the young secondary have been emphatically answered, and Utah's fresh corps of defensive backs looks like perhaps the best the Utes have had. Everything else is more or less humming along as expected and Tyler Huntley is shining. Those gosh darn penalties, though.

Utah is 127th in penalty yards per game right now, ahead of Texas Tech, Northern Illinois, and... no one else. If they can't get this problem cleared up it's a disaster in the making. There are pieces of good news- they have a bye week before Stanford, the first team equipped to make them pay for these mistakes; they open Pac-12 play with Arizona, who they should be favored to beat regardless; and they play the worst opponent on their schedule this Saturday in the Spartans.

Neutral field, one game, winner take all, I'd take the North Dakota Fighting Hawks to beat San Jose State, and so would anyone. What I'm hoping to see in this game is few penalties and another shining, breakout performance from Tyler Huntley. If I were him, I'd be setting my sights on 500 yards of total offense.

Prediction: Utah 45, SJSU 10