Utah vs SDSU Open Game Thread

Could this be a future conference matchup? With the Pac-12 looking at expansion, I think SDSU is at the top of the wish list for the conference. Utah wants to get revenge on that loss from a season ago. Both teams are 1-1 but lost a winnable game to Florida while SDSU got thumped by Arizona. Utah is a big favorite, and if they play that way and take care of business, they should come away with a nice win. If they are a bit sluggish, this could be much closer than needed.

Can Cam Rising and crew get payback? Let’s find out.

First Quarter: SDSU 0 Utah 0

It’s a defensive stalemate after the first quarter. SDSU has only 34 yards total on offense compared to 84 for Utah. The Utes are struggling to run the ball and SDSU is making life difficult for Cam Rising in the pocket. The Utes had two promising drives only to have them stall around the 40-yard line just after entering SDSU territory. Fortunately, the Utes defense has looked really good and has only given up one first down. Hopefully, the Utes can get their offense going in the second quarter.

Second Quarter: SDSU 0 Utah 21

Similar to last week, Utah started slowly in the first quarter before getting it going in the second quarter. In the second quarter, the Utah offensive line finally gave Cam Rising time to step up in the pocket and he took full advantage. Cam Rising has now gone 14-24 for 152 yards passing and 3 touchdown passes. Meanwhile, SDSU quarterback Burmeister is only 1-4 for 5 yards passing. Burmeister was out with an injury and is questionable to return. Rising’s first touchdown pass was a 30-yard dot to Kuithe to get Utah on the board. With about 2 minutes left in the first half Rising found Enis on a critical third and long to put Utah up 14-0. On the ensuing kickoff, SDSU fumbled the football and Rising found Vele (who displayed some excellent eye-foot coordination) to get a 15-yard touchdown. With the way Utah’s defense has played, the game certainly seems out of reach, but it will be critical for the Utes to keep up the intensity in the second half to close it out.

Third Quarter: SDSU 0 Utah 35

The Utah defense has been excellent all night. The Utes got an interception early in the third quarter and Tavion Thomas capped off the short field with an 18-yard touchdown run. Cam Rising found Vele for his 4th passing touchdown of the game and the Utah defense has made life miserable for SDSU backup quarterback Kyle Crum. Crum is 2-8 for 20 yards passing and 1 interception. Hopefully, we will see some action from Barnes in the fourth quarter and it would be great to see if the Utes can pitch a shutout.

Fourth Quarter: SDSU 7 Utah 35

Unfortunately, the Utes couldn’t quite pull off the shutout but nonetheless, Utah was able to get a dominant home victory to get some much-needed revenge against SDSU. SDSU got a consolation touchdown from backup quarterback Kyle Crum late in the game but Utah was in complete control after the second quarter. Rising went 18-30 for 224 yards passing and 4 touchdown passes on the night. Tavion Thomas had 16 carries for 59 yards rushing and 1 touchdown. SDSU’s defense was really tough in the first quarter but once the Utah offensive line gave Cam Rising some time in the pocket he had no problem finding open targets and picking apart the SDSU defense. Utah will need to figure out how to start faster in games if they are going to repeate as PAC 12 champions moving forward.

Up Next: Utah Utes @ Arizona State Sun Devils 9/24 at 8:30pm MT