Go Joe Bruin
Fansided

Know Your Opponent: UCLA Football vs. Utah 2018

By Mike Regalado

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes looks at a replay in the first half of a game against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - SEPTEMBER 15: Head coach Kyle Whittingham of the Utah Utes looks at a replay in the first half of a game against the Washington Huskies at Rice-Eccles Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Gene Sweeney Jr/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 06: Tyler Huntley #1 of the Utah Utes runs with the ball against the Stanford Cardinal during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
PALO ALTO, CA – OCTOBER 06: Tyler Huntley #1 of the Utah Utes runs with the ball against the Stanford Cardinal during the first quarter of their NCAA football game at Stanford Stadium on October 6, 2018 in Palo Alto, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

Utah Offense

Utah’s offense needed some time to get rolling but now that they are, they are running through teams. Part of that has to do with the confidence and efficiency that QB Tyler Huntley is displaying this season. Against what was supposed to be an otherworldly USC defense, Huntley connected on 75% of his throws for 341 yards and 4 touchdowns.

I don’t know about you, but that is impressive against any team, let alone one of the best in the Pac-12. For the season, Huntley is averaging 223 yards per game, which is still an incredible amount of yards. That is easily accomplished when you have an incredible receiving corps as Huntley has at his disposal. His main weapon is Britain Covey (who might have the best name in the conference) who is averaging nearly 70 yards per game. If Utah wanst yards in chunks, they can go to Jaylen Dixon who is gaining 28.2 yards per catch. PER CATCH. Needless to say, the Bruins’ pass defense will have their hands full, but they also need to focus on the run.

light. Related Story. UCLA Football - Play call/outcome analysis from the Arizona game

2018 Utah Offensive Stats

Total – 425.9 | Rushing – 187.9 | Passing – 238.0 | Scoring – 30.3

Zack Moss is one of the deadlier running backs in the conference. He knows how to get through the tackles and can plow ahead to get those all-important yards after contact. Not only that, but he can get down the field in a hurry. This season his longest run went for 86 yards. He is also running for 107 yards per game and has 7 touchdowns this season. If UCLA’s run defense was as paper thin as it was against Arizona last week, Moss will have a field day at the Rose Bowl.

Interesting, a Utah running back that will run all over the Bruins in Pasadena, where have we seen that before?

UCLA really needs to buckle down if they want to shut down Utah’s offense, but the way the Utes have their machine chugging along, this seems like an impossible feat. If the defense cannot get it done for UCLA, then maybe the offense will. But that’s if they get past the Utah defense.