Cal Football: First Look at the No. 12 Utah Utes

Utes are ferocious defensively, but early question exists about status of quarterback Tyler Huntley

Here is the early report on what you need to know about the No. 12 Utes:

KICKOFF: 7 p.m. PT (8 p.m. MT) Saturday at Rice-Eccles Stadium, Salt Lake City, Utah. The Utes have sold out their past 61 games at Rice-Eccles (45,807).

TV: FS1

WEATHER FORECAST: After a partly cloud day in Salt Lake City on Saturday, the forecast calls for 56 degrees, light winds and virtually no chance of rain by the 8 p.m. local time kickoff. The temperature will drop to about 48 degrees by game’s end.

UTAH 2019 RECORD: 6-1 overall, 3-1 in the Pac-12. Utah is 95-35 all-time at Rice-Eccles Stadium (since 1998) and has won eight in a row on its home field.

LAST GAME: The Utes smothered Arizona State 21-3, limiting the Sun Devils to 136 total yards and eight first downs. ASU freshman quarterback Jayden Daniels, who passed for 363 yards and three touchdowns against Washington State the week before, was 4-for-18 for 25 yards with an interception and three sacks. Running back Zack Moss ran for 99 yards and two touchdowns and broke Utah’s career rushing record with 3,264 yards. He also tied the program record with his 31st rushing touchdown. The lone downside for Utah was a late-game leg injury injury to quarterback Tyler Huntley. There was no immediate news on his availability for the Cal game.

THE SERIES: Cal leads 6-5 and won 28-23 in Berkeley in 2016 in the most recent meeting. Utah leads 4-3 since both teams belonged to the Pac-12 Conference. Cal is 1-3 vs. the Utes in Salt Lake City, winning 35-22 in 1963.

UTAH COACH: Kyle Whittingham, 59, is 126-62 in his 15th full season as the Utes’ coach. He served as co-coach with Urban Meyer for the 2004 Fiesta Bowl (in which Alex Smith led the Utes past Pitt 35-7 to complete a 12-0 season), then became Utah’s full-time head coach in 2005 after Meyer left for Florida. Whittingham directed Utah to a 13-0 record, a 31-17 win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and a No. 2 final national ranking in 2008 (behind Meyer’s national championship Florida team). A native of San Luis Obispo, Whittingham’s teams have played in 12 bowl games, winning 10 times. He signed a contract extension last spring that pays him $4.1 million this season.

UTAH STORYLINES: At 6-1, the Utes are on their way to a sixth straight winning season. They have won at least nine games in four of the past five full seasons and have suffered just two losing seasons since 2003. But they will need someone else to beat USC if they hope to claim the Pac-12 South title and a berth in the conference championship game for a shot at their first-ever trip to the Rose Bowl. This team features a punishing defense and a record-setting running back in Zack Moss, but the status of senior quarterback Tyler Huntley is in question after he injured his leg Saturday against Arizona State. (If Huntley cannot play, the Utes’ No. 2 quarterback is sophomore Jason Shelley, who started five games last season after Huntley was injured). Utah has outscored its past three foes by a combined score of 111-23. The defense has allowed more than 17 points just once once all season (in a 30-23 loss at USC), and ranks sixth nationally (first in the Pac-12) in scoring defense at 11.7 points-per-game allowed. The Utes are No. 4 in FBS in total defense (252.1 yards), No. 2 in rushing defense (61.1 yards) and No. 6 in third-down defense (27.4%). Utah has nine interceptions and has scored three defensive touchdowns.

UTAH’S BEST PLAYER: It would be easy to pick quarterback Tyler Huntley, who has made a significant jump as a senior this season, completing 74 percent of his passes with just one interception. Or running back Zack Moss, who is on his way to a third straight 1,000-yard rushing season and owns 14 games of at least 100 yards. But our choice goes to the heart of what makes Utah such a good team: The Utes’ four-man defensive front sets the tone. Defensive ends Bradlee Anae and Mike Tafau and tackles John Penisini and Leki Fotu average 6-foot-3, 298 pounds and have played a combined 128 career games with 80 starts. Anae and Fotu were first-team All-Pac-12 selections in 2018 and Penisini was a second-team pick. ASU, with 111 net rushing yards, became the first opponent to run for 100 yards on the Utes this season, but the Sun Devils were held without a touchdown and were a combined 2-for-14 on third- and fourth-down tries.

BETTING LINE: Utah opened as an 18-point favorite, according to VegasInsider.com.