Out of respect for the LDS Church’s General Conference, this week’s games move up to earlier in the week. But the hype following the top games did not stay on Saturday.
Utah will have the most anticipated home game in the school’s history when PAC-12 opponent USC arrives tonight for the nationally televised matchup. The battle for in-state supremacy will be fought Friday night in Provo when Utah State travels to BYU for another nationally highlighted contest.
The annual Conference bump up definitely puts the state of Utah on the national map. By being the only games on television, the best of what the state has to offer will be featured. Utah will get the first crack at the headlines.
Before Jordan Wynn’s career ended due to shoulder injuries and Arizona State exposed all the holes in the Ute’s defense, tonight’s game was expected to decide the early leader for the PAC-12 South. Now, the 13th ranked Trojans, who started the preseason at no. 1 in the country, are heavily favored.
The Utes were slower than ASU last week, a problem that will only compound against the Trojan’s speed. However, the offense for USC has not quite clicked this season. The close loss to Stanford showed just how much the Trojans need to click if they want to win. Stanford did fly to the ball in the game, and outside of defensive tackle Star Lotulelei Utah does not have the same athletes the Cardinals have on defense. This matchup will most likely not live up to the hype, but will be a good stage for the Utes should the team play well. The sold-out game will be aired at 6 p.m. on ESPN.
A more competitive game will be played the following night when the Beehive Boot is on the line and Utah State visits BYU.
The Boot, which goes to the Utah school with the best record against in-state foes, could be won outright by the Aggies due to their win over the Utes earlier this season.
The Aggies could win the Boot outright for the first time since 1982. If BYU wins the game, they will take the Boot due to their win over Weber State.
For more information check out the Oct.4 edition of Davis CLipper.
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