Football Hosts Arizona in Final Home Game Saturday

11/12/2012 12:00 AM | Football

Nov. 12, 2012

Tickets Still Available for Saturday's Game!
Coach Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

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Game Links
	Gameday Central	Season Statistics
Rice-Eccles Stadium	Interactive Fan Guide	Media Guide
TV: ESPNU	Radio: ESPN 700 \| SIRIUS/XM (139/196)

Complete Release in PDF

QUICK HITS

> Utah (4-6, 2-5 Pac-12) hosts Arizona (6-4, 3-4 Pac-12) in its final home game on Saturday, Nov. 17 starting at 8 p.m. MST. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU. Radio is ESPN700 AM (espn700sports.com) and SIRIUS/XM (139/196).

> Saturday marks the final home appearance for 25 seniors, who will be recognized in a pre-game ceremony. See Senior Sendoff for more.

> Utah must beat both Arizona (Nov. 17 in Salt Lake City) and Colorado (Nov. 23 in Boulder) to become bowl eligible for a 10th-straight year. The Utes are 8-1 in bowl games since 2003 and seven of those wins came with Kyle Whittingham as the head coach (including a 2005 Fiesta Bowl win as the co-head coach).

> Whittingham's first regular-season win was against Arizona in the 2005 season opener, 27-24 in Salt Lake City. His first career victory came in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl as Utah's co-head coach.

> Utah offensive coordinator Brian Johnson got the first start (and the first win) of his record-setting Ute career against Arizona in 2005 as an 18-year-old sophomore. Johnson owns the school record for victories by a starting quarterback, going 26-7.

> Utah leads the series with Arizona 20-15-2 and has won the last three games. Last season, Utah earned its first-ever Pac-12 Conference road win against UA in Tucson (34-21).

> Utah holds a 10-7 series lead in Salt Lake City, with its most recent win in 2005. Arizona's last win in Rice-Eccles Stadium was in 2000. See page 2 for more on the series.

SENIOR SENDOFF

Fans are encouraged be in their seats early on Saturday to see 25 seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony. The 2012 senior class has a 32-17 record and has played in three bowl games. Seniors who will be honored this Saturday follow (asterisk indicates the 10 fifth-year seniors who were redshirts on Utah's 13-0, Sugar Bowl team in 2008): Boo Andersen*, LB; Sam Brenner, OL; DeVonte Christopher*, WR; Reggie Dunn, WR; Dave Fagergren, LB; Lorenzo Ford, DE; Patrick Greene*, SN; Jon Hays, QB; Dave Kruger*, DT; Ryan Lacy*, DB; Moe Lee, DB; Star Lotulelei, DT; Miles Mason, OL; Luke Matthews*, WR; Max Moala, FB; Kendrick Moeai*, TE; Joape Pela, DT; Coleman Petersen, K/P; Dallin Rogers, TE; David Rolf, TE; Sean Sellwood*, P; Tevita Stevens*, OL; Reggie Topps*, DB; Lewis Walker, DB and John White, RB. Stevens, Kruger, Matthews, Sellwood and Greene are all four-year starters.

TWO-MINUTE DRILL

There are two Arizona natives on Utah's roster: senior receiver Luke Matthews and freshman offensive lineman J.J. Dielman ... Utah is 0-5 on the road this season. Its last road win was at Washington State on Nov. 19, 2011 ... John White has rushed for 100 yards four times this year, including the last three games. Utah is 11-1 when he rushes for 100 yards ... Utah is outscoring its opponents in the second (76-58) and third (63-30) quarters.

IN THE HUDDLE

Injured quarterback Jordan Wynn has left school. Wynn, who retired after the second game this season, received a bachelor's degree in economics last May ... John White leads Utah in scoring (48 points) and has a team-best eight touchdowns (7 rushing, 1 receiving) ... Sophomore tight end Jake Murphy is Utah's leading receiver with 29 catches for 304 yards. The last time a tight end led Utah in receiving in a season was Dennis Smith back in 1989 ... Four true freshmen have played in and started at least one game for Utah this season: quarterback Travis Wilson, linebacker Reshawn Hooker, offensive lineman Jeremiah Poutasi and punter Tom Hackett ... 18 players have caught passes for Utah this season and four players have completed passes (Wilson, Wynn, Jon Hays and DeVonte Christopher).

SELLING OUT

The Utes have sold out 17-consecutive games in Rice-Eccles Stadium dating back to the first game of the 2010 season and 15 of those games have been played before crowds that exceeded the stadium's 45,017 seating capacity. The Utes, who have averaged 45,410 fans in their first five home games this season, must sell several hundred tickets that Arizona returned to keep their sellout streak alive. Tickets may be purchased at 801-581-UTIX, UtahUtes.com and the Rice-Eccles Stadium box office. Even if Utah falls short of a sellout this Saturday, the Utes are guaranteed to average a capacity crowd (or more) for the fifth-straight season.

OUTSIDE THE LINES

A new tailgating area will make its debut this Saturday on the corner of Guardsman Way and the north side of 500 South. Reserved spots at "Tailgate Island" are on sale for the Arizona game for $25, with the option to renew the space next fall at a season rate. Call 801-587-9894 ... The Alumni Association and the MUSS will collect monetary donations for the Utah Food Bank at the game. Donations are also being accepted online at alumni.utah.edu ... University of Utah 2012 Olympians Michelle Plouffe (basketball) and Jake Gibb (volleyball) will be honored during the first quarter ... At halftime, the winners will be announced for the 2012 Paint the Town Red competition.

U-TWEETS

Utah has played in eight night games and is 3-5 in them utes ... Utah is 2-0 on ESPNU with wins at San Jose State in 2009 and at Pittsburgh in 2011 utes ... John White has tied Utah's career record for 100-yard games (12). He has four this season and three straight #utes.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Utah is tied for first in the country in fumbles returned for touchdowns (4) and ranks second in total forced fumbles (18) ... Utah is third in the Pac-12 in rushing defense (110.6) and total defense (346.3) ... Nationally, the Utes rank 18th in rushing defense and 31st in total defense ... Utah is good on fourth down on both sides of the ball. The Ute defense leads the Pac-12 and is tied for 13th nationally in opponent fourth-down conversions (33.3%, 3-of-9), while the offense ranks second in the league in fourth-down conversions (57.1%, 12-of-21) ... Utah is second in the Pac-12 and 17th in the NCAA in time of possession (32.12).