Recent News | Popular News | Subscribe

GAME NOTES: Even after winning their second game of the 2009 campaign, the Utah Utes actually fell one place in the AP Poll so now it is the 18th-ranked team in the nation heading to the Pacific Northwest to challenge the Oregon Ducks in a non-conference affair on Saturday afternoon.

Heading into last week the Utes, who had the longest winning streak in the nation at 16 games, had already knocked off in-state rival Utah State by a score of 35-17 and moved up a couple spots in the rankings as a result. This past weekend the team made the trip to San Jose to face off against the Spartans and struggled for much of the contest before claiming the 24-14 decision.

Utah, a member of the Mountain West Conference, was the only team in the Football Bowl Subdivision last season to finish with an unblemished record. The Utes also enter this week having won nine straight games on the road as well.

As for the Ducks, they had high expectations for this season, but those aspirations quickly disappeared after losing to 14th-ranked Boise State in the opener, 19-8, and then watching running back LeGarrette Blount go haywire and get himself suspended for the entire season. Without one of the top rushers in the nation to lean on, Oregon faced Purdue last week and barely got away with a 38-36 triumph in the home opener, giving new head coach Chip Kelly his first win with the team.

For the Ducks, this is the second of what will be four straight games at home, with Pac-10 foes California and Washington State ready to march in over the next few weeks.

The most recent meeting between these two squads fell in favor of the Utes by a final of 17-13 back in 2003, yet it is Oregon which owns a 17-8 mark in the series overall.

The Utes scored on their first possession of the game against San Jose State, although they needed a fourth-down effort by Matt Asiata to get them into the end zone, but after that the offense went cold.

Quarterback Terrance Cain had a TD pass to Jereme Brooks early in the fourth quarter and Eddie Wide found the end zone on a 15-yard run to wake up the Utes in the close call. Cain finished the outing 18-of-31 for 248 yards, while Asiata contributed a team-best 94 yards on the ground. Late in the second quarter Asiata and Cain had a chance to put points on the board when the running back took the snap from center, but his pass to a wide open Cain in the end zone sailed high.

"We could have played better, but we can't get frustrated. We need to stay poised," is how Cain looked at the effort.

Cain has the offense moving in the right direction at least, placing first in the MWC in total offense with 509 ypg, but all of those yards have not translated into positive end results. Even though it has been just two games, the Utes are currently fourth in the league and tied for 53rd in the nation with 29.5 ppg.

Even though Cain has shown bright signs in the early going, this offense still revolves around Asiata who has generated 250 yards and three touchdowns on 56 carries, but he can't take that much of a beating week in and week out.

From a defensive standpoint, the Utes were at it again with their presence at the line of scrimmage on Saturday, limiting SJSU to a mere 22 yards on the ground. The Spartans registered 19 first downs, but if not for seven penalties, the ball would not have moved as well down the field for the squad.

Utah held SJSU to just 3-of-12 on third down and when it mattered most, the Utes allowed the Spartans to control the ball for less than six minutes in the final period.

Joe Dale finished with a team-best seven tackles, one behind the line of scrimmage for the Utes, while Christian Cox was credited with the lone sack of the game for the visitors.

But even though the Utes came out on top, head coach Kyle Whittingham still saw plenty of room for improvement.

"We did a lot of things not very effectively. Namely, we didn't play the deep ball very well. We turned the ball over twice in the first half. Our special teams was a big drop-off from last week. You name it, we have to work on it this week."

While it is still early, the Utes have shown that they haven't handled turnovers as well as they should, having threw more giveaways than they have had takeaways. While opponents have recovered four Utah fumbles, the Utes have yet to cover one up for themselves and that sort of stat is one that will catch up with the squad as the season wears on.

In an effort to put the LeGarrette Blount fiasco behind them, the Ducks focused their energy on Purdue last week as Jeremiah Masoli gained a team-best 84 yards on the ground and scored once, not to mention coming up with 163 yards through the air. The squad scored three rushing touchdowns and registered three rushing scores in Eugene.

More importantly, the Oregon defense stepped up with a strong effort at the right times as Walter Thurmond intercepted a ball and returned it 18 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and Javes Lewis was credited with a fumble return for a TD as well in the third frame. Add in a blocked PAT in the fourth and the Ducks did just enough to come away with the win.

However, as great as those defensive scores may have been, the fact remains that the Ducks surrendered 451 yards of total offense and watched as the Boilermakers ran 86 offensive plays.

Without Blount, the UO offense definitely needs some major tuning, ranking last in the Pac-10 in rushing (112 ypg), passing (142 ypg) and total offense (254 ypg). If not for those defensive scores last week the team would be even deeper in the hole when it comes to scoring, currently averaging 23 ppg.

After the first two games last season, the Ducks were averaging 55 ppg and went on to register a hefty 41.9 ppg for the entire campaign, ranking them seventh in the country and first in the Pac-10, but that sort of play seems like a distant memory given that Oregon was second in the nation in rushing in '08 with a whopping 280.1 ypg and is now light years away from such a substantial number.

As long as the defense for the Ducks gives Utah some space, the same way that it did against Purdue last week, expect Cain and Asiata to take advantage and have better productivity in order to put the game out of reach.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Utah 41, Oregon 23