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Overview
Utah travels to Ames riding high at #10 AP/USA, but mostly untested. The Cyclones enter the game following a 52-38 victory over Texas Tech where they opened up a big lead early, but had to hold on by returning an onside kick for TD. This is the first real road test for the Utes while ISU is 3-0 at home on the season.
Utah Defense vs. ISU Offense
ISU is averaging 26.6 pts and has a balanced offense with 187 Rushes and 182 passes on the year. Starting QB Austen Arnaud played the full game against TTU after missing most of the previous game due to injury. He had his most prolific game to date going 20-28, 190, 4-0. He does have 5 picks on the year, but none in the last 3 games. Their leading rusher is Alexander Robinson with 404 total yards. He split time last week with Shontrelle Johnson and Jeff Woody, but is reported to have fully recovered from a leg injury and should carry most of the load.
Tight end, Collin Franklin, is their leading receiver with 21-220-1. Darius Reynolds is the leading wideout with 9-137-1.
Utah's defense continues to be led by the defensive line. Nationally the Utes are 7th in both scoring defense and yds/game. Sealver Siliga and Dave Krugar continues to be a force in the middle, occupying blockers and allowing Manis,Martinez and Walker to scrape cleanly from the LB positions. The Backers are compiling big tackling #'s, but that is a direct result of the line play.
The SJSU game saw a rarity. A pass thrown in the direction of Brandon Burton for a 4 yd gain. Teams have started to ignore the left side of the formation in favor of trying to pick on Lamar Chapman or Conroy Black. The safety play has been solid with some big hits combined with some missed assignments.
Utah should control the line of scrimmage and force ISU into more of a passing game. Arnaud is a threat to run and reminds some of Omar Clayton in the ability to move out of the pocket to buy more time. Look for Utah to assign a spy if that becomes much of a problem.
Advantage Utah.
Utah's Offense vs. ISU's Defense
Running a 4-3, ISU has a decent defense allowing 22.0/gm and 384 yds/gm. They have a ball hawking secondary that has already picked 8 passes and returned 3 of those for TD's. LB's A.J. Klein and Jake Knott are the leaders of the defense, with both of them having 3 picks each. The Cyclone pass rush has been fairly anemic withonly 6 sacks on the year, with DT Stephen Ruempolhamer collecting 2 of them.
Utah ranks 6th in scoring at 44.3 pts but 50th with 399.5 yds/gm. This is likely due to 3 special teams TD's and good field position set up by their defense and ST.
Jordan Wynn will be making his 3rd start of the year. He is 35-54, 404, 5-1. The Utes rely on the 2 back system with Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata to average 176.3 yds on the ground. The receiving group is led by Jereme Brooks with 20-307-4. The next receiver is DeVonte Christopher with 12-224-2. 9 receivers(and 4 backs) have had a reception to date.
Given the lack of pass rush from the front, look for ISU to blitz early and often. Wynn was not tested against SJSU but looked shaky against the blitz up the middle in his only other start. Utah has multiple weapons to use which will keep ISU on their heels.
Advantage Utah
Special Teams
Utah comes into the game with one of the most prolific return teams in the nation lead by Shaky Smithson. Smithson has returned 2 punts for touchdowns and averages 32.8 yds per kick return and 21.4 yds/return on punts. He has overcome a "shaky" start to become the multi-purpose weapon that the Utes thought he would be when signing him to a LOI.
ISU's punter is averaging 40.3 yds a punt with a net of 37.2. ISU gives up an average of 23.6 yds on kick returns with the average starting position of the opponents being the 24 yard line.
Utah was able to play 2 games without a punt block and it appears that Sean Sellwood has quickened his tortoise pace on his punts. He is averaging an excellent 48.5 gross and 36.5 net. The Cyclones punt return team averages a pedestrian 6.6 yds and the kick return averages 24.1.
Look for Smithson to be a threat that can alter the game and help Utah's offense with short fields. If Utah can keep Iowa St. out from coming near Sellwood, this is definitely an area that favors Utah.
Advantage Utah
Summary
ISU is looking at this game to make a statement nationally, while Utah looks to see how they stack up against their best opponent to date. If Utah's offense struggles in the first half, this will be a nail biter. If the Utes can score a few early touchdowns and get the early lead, the Cyclones don't have the offense to come from behind.
Utah 38 ISU 21
Utah travels to Ames riding high at #10 AP/USA, but mostly untested. The Cyclones enter the game following a 52-38 victory over Texas Tech where they opened up a big lead early, but had to hold on by returning an onside kick for TD. This is the first real road test for the Utes while ISU is 3-0 at home on the season.
Utah Defense vs. ISU Offense
ISU is averaging 26.6 pts and has a balanced offense with 187 Rushes and 182 passes on the year. Starting QB Austen Arnaud played the full game against TTU after missing most of the previous game due to injury. He had his most prolific game to date going 20-28, 190, 4-0. He does have 5 picks on the year, but none in the last 3 games. Their leading rusher is Alexander Robinson with 404 total yards. He split time last week with Shontrelle Johnson and Jeff Woody, but is reported to have fully recovered from a leg injury and should carry most of the load.
Tight end, Collin Franklin, is their leading receiver with 21-220-1. Darius Reynolds is the leading wideout with 9-137-1.
Utah's defense continues to be led by the defensive line. Nationally the Utes are 7th in both scoring defense and yds/game. Sealver Siliga and Dave Krugar continues to be a force in the middle, occupying blockers and allowing Manis,Martinez and Walker to scrape cleanly from the LB positions. The Backers are compiling big tackling #'s, but that is a direct result of the line play.
The SJSU game saw a rarity. A pass thrown in the direction of Brandon Burton for a 4 yd gain. Teams have started to ignore the left side of the formation in favor of trying to pick on Lamar Chapman or Conroy Black. The safety play has been solid with some big hits combined with some missed assignments.
Utah should control the line of scrimmage and force ISU into more of a passing game. Arnaud is a threat to run and reminds some of Omar Clayton in the ability to move out of the pocket to buy more time. Look for Utah to assign a spy if that becomes much of a problem.
Advantage Utah.
Utah's Offense vs. ISU's Defense
Running a 4-3, ISU has a decent defense allowing 22.0/gm and 384 yds/gm. They have a ball hawking secondary that has already picked 8 passes and returned 3 of those for TD's. LB's A.J. Klein and Jake Knott are the leaders of the defense, with both of them having 3 picks each. The Cyclone pass rush has been fairly anemic withonly 6 sacks on the year, with DT Stephen Ruempolhamer collecting 2 of them.
Utah ranks 6th in scoring at 44.3 pts but 50th with 399.5 yds/gm. This is likely due to 3 special teams TD's and good field position set up by their defense and ST.
Jordan Wynn will be making his 3rd start of the year. He is 35-54, 404, 5-1. The Utes rely on the 2 back system with Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata to average 176.3 yds on the ground. The receiving group is led by Jereme Brooks with 20-307-4. The next receiver is DeVonte Christopher with 12-224-2. 9 receivers(and 4 backs) have had a reception to date.
Given the lack of pass rush from the front, look for ISU to blitz early and often. Wynn was not tested against SJSU but looked shaky against the blitz up the middle in his only other start. Utah has multiple weapons to use which will keep ISU on their heels.
Advantage Utah
Special Teams
Utah comes into the game with one of the most prolific return teams in the nation lead by Shaky Smithson. Smithson has returned 2 punts for touchdowns and averages 32.8 yds per kick return and 21.4 yds/return on punts. He has overcome a "shaky" start to become the multi-purpose weapon that the Utes thought he would be when signing him to a LOI.
ISU's punter is averaging 40.3 yds a punt with a net of 37.2. ISU gives up an average of 23.6 yds on kick returns with the average starting position of the opponents being the 24 yard line.
Utah was able to play 2 games without a punt block and it appears that Sean Sellwood has quickened his tortoise pace on his punts. He is averaging an excellent 48.5 gross and 36.5 net. The Cyclones punt return team averages a pedestrian 6.6 yds and the kick return averages 24.1.
Look for Smithson to be a threat that can alter the game and help Utah's offense with short fields. If Utah can keep Iowa St. out from coming near Sellwood, this is definitely an area that favors Utah.
Advantage Utah
Summary
ISU is looking at this game to make a statement nationally, while Utah looks to see how they stack up against their best opponent to date. If Utah's offense struggles in the first half, this will be a nail biter. If the Utes can score a few early touchdowns and get the early lead, the Cyclones don't have the offense to come from behind.
Utah 38 ISU 21
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