Utah Football: Si Se Puede

Sep 14, 2013; Tempe, AZ, USA; Arizona State Sun Devils cheerleaders celebrate after beating the Wisconsin Badgers 32-30 at Sun Devil Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Yes the plan of attack vs ASU is clear, the question becomes, can we execute it…

And I should start this section with everything that I say must be prefaced with If Travis Wilson’s hand is healthy…

Because if it isn’t we’re screwed.

But since we’re down so many offensive weapons, the game plan will have to go something like this (and I’m not a genius, Whit even alluded to this).

Utah going to slow down the game.  They may even huddle, although forcing the defense not to substitute has become so important, it might just be a matter of spending longer at the line of scrimmage.  In any event, slowing down the game means running the ball effectively, which will mean keeping an eye on Mr. Sutton, who killed us last year.

And then we’re going to need our defense to continue to step up.

It’s at this point I’d like to address a myth, that Utah cannot play against a spread.  This defense has done pretty well this year against spread teams.  They shut down UCLA for a half with an offense that turned the ball over six times, giving the Utes a chance to tie.  They helped hold down Arizona enough that we had a 3rd quarter lead and if we had offense, we’d have won that game.

I’ve seen a lot of despair coming into this game but I don’t think it should be so.  If Travis Wilson’s hand is healthy that he can throw enough play action to keep ASU honest enough that we can run the football.  If the Utes don’t turn the ball over. And if the defense can just keep doing what it has been doing, Utah will win this game.

Si se puede.