The #17 Utah Utes will be looking to extend the nation's longest winning streak on Saturday September, 12th when they visit Spartan Stadium to play the San Jose State Spartans at 8:30 PM MT. Utah who was has won 15 straight games will be looking for their 16th win in a row, which would be their second longest win streak in school history. Utah looked well in its season debut when they beat the Utah State Aggies 35-17 at home. Their opener as expected wasn't perfect; however they showed us that they are still a very good team.
Terrance Cain looked impressive in his quarterback debut for the Utes completing 20-30 of his passes for 286 yards and two touchdowns. Utah had a very conservative game plan as Cain rarely took shots down the field. Expect the Utes to take more shots down the field in this game. Matt Asiata led the Utes in rushing against Utah State with 36 carries for 156 yards. Look for Asiata to run the ball less, and for guys like Eddie Wide and Sausan Shakerin to get more touches.
San Jose State opened their season in Los Angeles and was given a 56-3 beatdown by #3 USC Trojans. They led USC 3-0 at the end of the first quarter after a 41 yard field goal by Tyler Cope, however by the games end USC had put up 620 yards of total offense against the Spartan defense. Their offense was just as bad only rushing for 9 yards all game and passing for 112 yards with their two quarterback system using Kyle Reed and Jordan La Secla. San Jose State expects to bounce back and be more competitive throughout the entire game against the Utes.
The Ute defense held Utah State to 0-13 on third down conversions. USC held the Spartans to 1-16 on third down conversions. San Jose State should have trouble moving the ball against the Utah defense that held Utah State to 342 yards of total offense, 96 coming from a Robert Turbin run. Utah's defense did play a bit sloppy last week but with some game film to work on they should be ready to play this weekend.
Utah is expected to have DE Koa Misi back after he injured his back in fall camp, and missed the Utah State game. Misi is one of their defensive leaders and help out in his return. Expect him to play maybe a half or more to ease him back in before the Oregon game.
The Utes should not over look Dick Tomey who is a great defensive coach, and he did show it for a half against USC. He may use some different looks to try to confuse Terrance Cain and the offensive line. Also San Jose State has a pretty good receiver in Kevin Jurovich who had a decent game against USC with five catches and 64 yards. The Utah corners will have their hands full when covering Jurovich, and since San Jose State does not really have any other threat so a safety and lineback can cheat in their coverage.
Utah is coming into this game 14 point favorites against San Jose State. The two teams have met five times in the past. Utah leads the series 4-1 with the last game being played in 1998 when the Utes defeated the Spartans 49-17. This will be San Jose State's first game at home this season with their new field turf that they received in the off season in a stadium that holds 30,456.