Utah Football: 3 keys to victory vs. Washington State in Week 5

2 of 3

LOS ANGELES, CA – OCTOBER 14: Wide receiver Tyler Vaughns #21 of the USC Trojans gets in front of defensive back Julian Blackmon #23 of the Utah Utes as he catches the ball on the 17 yard line for a first down in the third quarter of the game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on October 14, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images) /

2. Learn from USC mistakes

The Utes left a lot of football in Los Angeles in their 30-23 loss at the Coliseum. They weren’t disciplined, and they played as poorly in the secondary as I’ve ever seen the Utes play. Julian Blackmon was late with safety help all game long. Utah, however, hasn’t had much luck against spread teams recently, especially Washington State. Big plays hurt the Utes in last years 24-28 loss to the Cougars in Pullman. The Cougars were methodical in their 33-25 win against the Utes in 2017.

Simply put, the Utes don’t defend the spread very well. They know that, and so do the Cougars. This might be a game where the Utes employ more zone. Man didn’t work against USC, and — although the Cougars receivers aren’t the caliber of USC — zone might be the best strategy here.

Washington State is going to use a lot of empty sets against the Utes. It’s awfully hard to go man-to-man against a five-wide receiver look.

The Utes must pressure Anthony Gordon in this game as well. They didn’t trouble Matt Fink much, and didn’t get much pressure against Garner Minshew or Luke Falk in their two previous losses to the Cougars. The trick for the Utes is pressure with their front four without bringing extra people.

Home/Utah Utes