Arizona and Utah are set to begin their Pac-12 schedules on Friday night in Tucson with a Pac-12 South matchup.
While Utah enters the game as the ranked team, Arizona has not been kind to the Utes since they joined the Pac-12 in 2011. The Utes won the first matchup in 2011, but Arizona won the next four -- including the last two in Tucson -- before Utah ended the Wildcats streak with a 36-23 win last season in Salt Lake City.
Viewing information
Date: Friday, Sep. 22 | Time: 10:30 p.m. ET
Location: Arizona Stadium -- Tucson, Arizona
TV: FS1 | Live stream: fubo.TV (try for free) or Fox Sports Go
Storylines
Arizona: The Wildcats are off to a 2-1 start this season with a couple of blowouts against Northern Arizona and UTEP. Their lone loss was a 19-16 defeat at home against Houston two weeks ago, and the Wildcats offense struggled in that contest, amassing only 371 yards.
Arizona is a team looking to run the ball, as its averaging 328 yards per game this season, which ranks sixth in the country. Those numbers are skewed by the blowout wins, however, as the Wildcats ran for 506 yards against Northern Arizona and 326 against UTEP last week. They rushed for only 152 yards against Houston, averaging 3.9 yards per carry. QB Brandon Dawkins leads the team in rushing, but he may have to rely on his arm more against Utah.
Utah: The Utes are 3-0 but without an impressive win on their resume to this point. Tyler Huntley won the quarterback job in camp, taking over for Troy Williams. Huntley brings a dual-threat presence to a Utah offense that's trying to pick up the tempo this year after hiring new offensive coordinator Troy Taylor from Eastern Washington. While Huntley threw for four touchdowns against San Jose State last week, this is still an offense working out the kinks as it adjusts to its new philosophy.
The good news is Utah's defense is playing well enough to allow its offense time. Through three games, the Utah defense is allowing only 246 yards per game and 3.8 yards per play. It's also only given up four touchdowns on the season and been stingy in the red zone.
Prediction
This is just a bad matchup for Arizona. It's a team that relies on its rushing attack going up against a team that has been excellent stopping the run to this point. Opponents are rushing for 1.66 yards per carry against the Utes this season, which ranks best in the nation. Arizona will be a much tougher test, but I can't help but believe the Utes will get the better end of this one. Pick: Utah -3.5
