Utah Injury Updates Ahead of Matchup vs. No. 3 Oregon
Utah is less than 48 hours away from its biggest matchup of the 2021 season with No. 3 Oregon coming to Salt Lake City for a primetime showdown. Both teams have had an extensive battle with the injury bug this year, but are getting healthy at the right time.
The Utes were down a couple players against Arizona and saw a few more get banged up throughout the game. Here a few players to keep an eye on for this weekend.
Tavion Thomas - Running Back
Tavion Thomas is the workhorse for the Utes' offense and is a game-changing player when he's on the field. Unfortunately for Utah, he wasn't available in the win over Arizona on Saturday for an undisclosed reason.
His status for the game against Oregon this weekend is unclear, but multiple sources, including Salt Lake Tribune reporter Josh Newman and Pac-12 Network analyst Yogi Roth, have said they expect Thomas to return on Saturday.
Few running backs have a streak going like Thomas does — he has two straight games with at least 160 rushing yards and four touchdowns. Utah has two running backs in TJ Pledger and Micah Bernard that can carry the load should Thomas be unavailable for the second week in a row, but Thomas' physicality and bowling-ball running style will be missed if he can't go.
Nick Ford - Offensive Lineman
Nick Ford, the Utes' usual starting center and one of the more versatile lineman on the team, was hurt late against Arizona. Ford said on Monday on a radio show that he suffered from cramps due to being on a lot of medication for a sinus infection.
Ford should be good to go against Oregon. He's moved around from center to left guard this season, and his skills should come in handy against an Oregon defensive line that is arguably the toughest Utah has had to face this year.
Paul Maile - Offensive Lineman
Paul Maile backs up Ford at center and even started at center when Ford was moved to left guard when usual starting left guard Keaton Bills was unavailable. Maile was injured on the final drive of the game against Arizona on Tavion Thomas' game-sealing touchdown and was later seen on crutches. Ford moved to center to snap the ball to Cameron Rising for the final kneel-down.
Maile's status is unclear, but it would be a surprise if he was on the field a week after being on crutches.
Faybian Marks - Cornerback
The Utes have been banged up in the secondary for much of the year, and they endured another blow with Faybian Marks going down. He suffered what looked like a non-contact injury on Will Plummer's touchdown run in the first quarter and limped off the field without putting pressure on his left leg. He was seen with crutches and a boot on the sidelines.
The second-year cornerback was the starter opposite standout Clark Phillips III, but was replaced by freshman Zemaiah Vaughn. Marks had been in the rotation due to All-Pac-12 corner JaTravis Broughton going down earlier in the season.
Utah will likely turn back to the freshman Vaughn, who is listed at safety, to replace Marks.
To hear more about the Utah injuries heading into this game, check out the latest episode of the Ducks Dish podcast with Salt Lake Tribune reporter Josh Newman.
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