SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utes have a history of coming off close losses to produce big wins against ranked teams. It happened last year against Stanford and this year against UCLA.
The big question is can the Utes’ offense execute to pull out a win against one of the best teams in the country?
Head coach Kyle Whittingham knows that this is going to be their toughest game yet.
"They, without a doubt in my opinion, are the top dog in the league right now," Whittingham said.
Going against the top dog means you need to be at your best, and Whittingham said that the Utes passing offense is not there.
"It just boils down to not being able to throw the ball well enough and get production there because we are running the ball effectively, we are taking care of the football so we are doing some good things," Whittingham said. "But, you've got to be balanced and right now we are not very balanced offensively."
"We can't just always depend on Devontae to get it done, we can't always depend on Andy to get it done," senior wide receiver Kaelin Clay said. "As a receiving group we have to step up, that's it."
"We were early in the year, we were throwing the ball pretty good but we have just kind of gone into a funk now in the throw game," Whittingham said.
Because of that struggle, the quarterback position has now reopened.
"The quarterback position is a competition this week, it's opened back up so we will have them compete in practice and see what transpires and go with the guy who we feel is going to give us the best chance to win," Whittingham said.
The Utes take on the Ducks this Saturday at 8 p.m. mountaintime.
