The 2019 Pac-12 Championship Game is set, and it’ll be the Ducks and Utes for the crown on Friday night at Levi’s Stadium. I spoke with Sammy Mora, sports editor for The Daily Utah Chronicle, to get a Salt Lake City perspective on the big game.
This interview took place via email on Dec. 1, 2019.
Zack Moss obviously missed most of the game in Utah’s only loss to USC early in the season. Besides that, what separates Week 15 Utah from Week 4 Utah?
A lot of things have changed, but I think there are two main points. The first one would have to be the secondary and how they are playing. Since the USC game, the secondary has really stepped up and made some of the best receivers in the conference non-factors. Even in the USC game, there was no doubt that the Utah defensive line was one of the best, but they have stepped up even more since then. Since that fateful Friday night in September, only two teams have rushed for more than 100 yards against a Utah defensive line that is full of next-level talent.
The other thing that changed is that the offense learned to take the pressure off of quarterback Tyler Huntley. During that loss, Huntley felt like he had to do it all — run the ball, make the deep throws and score. Since then, we have seen the Utah offense blossom into what people see today. This is an offense that knows how to score and they aren’t afraid to do it in dramatic fashion.
The Utes have NFL talent all over the field, but when you look at recruiting rankings, they really shouldn’t. How has Kyle Whittingham and the rest of the staff brought a team of 3-star recruits into College Football Playoff contention?
The Utah coaching staff is so good at finding kids who fit into their scheme and developing them into next-level guys. At the end of the day, stars don’t matter. While it might take Utah a little bit longer to be able to get those 5-star guys that schools like Oregon can get more easily, stars don’t matter to Kyle Whittingham. What matters is if they are willing to put in the work to be the best of the best and compete at the highest level, like the CFP.
Take Julian Blackmon for example. Coming out of high school, his only Power 5 offer was Utah. He was only a 3-star at the time of his recruitment, but that didn’t matter. He took what he was given and has continued the lineage of solid safeties who have donned the crimson red. The Utah coaching staff took a chance on him when he was in high school, and it is paying off big time because he is one of the players on this Utah defense that will be playing on Sundays.
Most fans already know about Moss and Huntley. Who is someone that fans might not know a lot about that needs to have a big game on Friday?
This might be a cop-out answer, but I’m going to go with some people on both sides of the ball.
On offense, I’ll go with Brant Kuithe. Kuithe is a sophomore tight end who, in the last three games for Utah, has six touchdowns (three of which were rushing). He has proven himself to be a threat in the rushing game as of late. We here in SLC already knew how dangerous he was downfield, but seeing him bust huge runs off the edge as of late has been something magical to watch. He has also had key blocks on big plays for the Utes, so even if he isn’t catching the ball he is still impacting the play. If Oregon doesn’t have a way to slow him down early in the night, it might be a long one for the Ducks.
On the defensive side of the ball I am going to go with Jaylon Johnson and Josh Nurse/Tareke Lewis. While Johnson has been the guy that the Utes have always lined up across from the best receiver on the opposing team, the tandem of Nurse and Lewis has been on the other side. While those two have been burned before this season, I think that they will need to step up big in this game because Oregon has so many different talented receivers, and Johnson can’t cover them all.
Justin Herbert, when he’s on, is as talented as any quarterback in the country. What is the Utah defense going to have to do to slow him down?
They are going to have to make him uncomfortable. Last year when the Utes and Ducks faced off in Salt Lake, Herbert was on the ground four times. While he was accurate with the ball and had three touchdowns, if the Utah defensive line can chip away at the solid Oregon offensive line, he might be in for the same fate as he was last year.
I also feel that the Utah defensive line has to shut down the rushing attack early in the game and force Herbert into must-throw situations. The secondary of Johnson, Blackmon, Nurse, Lewis, Terrell Burgess and Javelin Guidry will come down with some of those balls. If he is forced to throw in shorter situations, keep an eye on linebackers Francis Bernard and Devin Lloyd to snag a ball or two.
What is your score prediction?
The mantra of this Utah team all season has been “Unfinished Business.” Quite a few players from last year’s team could have left and tried to play in the NFL, but they all came back because they knew they were capable of getting back to Santa Clara.
Ever since the USC game the Utes have been on a rampage. The defense is not letting opposing teams score, but those teams haven’t been on the same level of a team like Oregon (I would say Washington is the closest to the Ducks, but I am very aware of the bitter rivalry between the two and I don’t want to upset Daily Emerald readers. So let’s just say Oregon is the best the Utes have faced). The Utah offense has also been finding ways to score and hold the ball long enough to tire opposing defenses.
I’m going to go with the Utes to win their first Pac-12 Championship, 24-17, and squeak in at the No. 4 spot in the Playoff to represent the Pac-12 for the first time since 2016.
