Utah v Arizona: Another Must Win?

Oct 12, 2013; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes offensive lineman Isaac Asiata (54) joins teammates and fans in celebrating Utah

The thing that is different being in a league like the Pac-12 is that the stakes are higher in every game.

Think, a week ago Stanford was in the national title hunt and now because they’re not in the SEC, that chance is probably over.

So here we are with the Utes, a week ago we were 3-2 and about to face the #5 team in the nation in a season where we just desperately need to get to a bowl game.  Lose and Utah has to go 3-3 down the stretch.  Instead the Utes pull the monster upset and all of a sudden instead of hoping for the New Mexico Bowl we are dreaming about the Holiday and Alamo Bowl.

But then comes Arizona.  Lose and we’re back to hoping for the ABQ.

So what do we know about Arizona.  Well since I live here in Tucson so here are some insights.

The Wildcats aren’t very good.  It’s got nothing to do with Rich Rod, Stoops pretty much left the cupboard bare.  Rich Rod was able to cover a great deal of that up because he had Matt Scott at QB and Ka’Deem Carey at RB.  This year he has BJ Denker at QB and the 106th passing offense in the land.  There isn’t a ton of talent on the other side of the ball either.

But Ka’Deem Carey is awesome and letting him run wild would be enough to generate an upset.  This Arizona team is well coached and they play hard.  Rich Rod is also doing work recruiting so in a couple of years this won’t happen.  So this is a game Utah is fully capable of winning.

It could also be a let down game after the big Stanford win.

But with the way I’ve seen this Utah team fight all year.  I really can’t believe that they’re suddenly going to read their own clippings and come down to the desert and drop a great big ol turd.

I believe we win this game and move to 5-2 and keep those Holiday/Alamo dreams alive, but since there are no New Mexico’s in this league (well Cal maybe you) it’s not a sure thing.