Football Plays at No. 6 Oregon Saturday

11/11/2013 12:00 AM | Football

Nov. 11, 2013

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SALT LAKE CITY--

Quotes from Coach Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

QUICKLY

> Utah (4-5, 1-5 Pac-12) plays at No. 6/7 Oregon (8-1, 5-1 Pac-12) on Saturday, Nov. 16 in Eugene, Ore. Kickoff is 1:00 p.m. PT in Autzen Stadium. The game will be televised on FOX Sports 1. Radio is ESPN700 AM. Satellite radio is Sirius 108/XM 198.

> Oregon is the fourth ranked team the Utes have faced this season, marking the first time a Utah team has played four opponents ranked in the Associated Press top 25 in a season. The Utes are 1-2 against ranked teams this season, handing No. 5 Stanford its only loss and losing to No. 12 UCLA and No. 23 Arizona State. Its losses to ranked teams have come by a total of eight points.

> In the NCAA rankings, Utah has the third-toughest schedule in the country. The combined FBS record of Utah's first nine opponents is 45-17 (.726).

> Utah leads the nation in sacks per game (3.67). Utah is second in total sacks with 33 in nine games (Missouri has 34 sacks in 10 games).

> The Utes have lost their last three games since beating Stanford on Oct. 12. Since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, Utah is 8-16 overall in conference play, including a 5-8 home record and a 3-8 road mark.

> Utah and Oregon have played two common opponents. Utah beat Stanford 27-21 and lost to UCLA 34-27. Oregon lost to Stanford 26-20 and beat UCLA 42-14.

> Utah and Oregon have never played in a conference game. Oregon leads the series 18-8 (10-4 in Eugene). Utah is 3-4 against the Ducks since 1991 with wins in 1991, 1994 and 2003. Oregon won the last contest in 2009, 31-24 in Autzen Stadium and snapping a 16-game Utah win streak. More on the series on page 2.

TWO MINUTE DRILL

Utah does not have any scholarship players on its roster from Oregon ... Utah is 1-1 this season and 5-5 overall against the Pac-12 North. Against Pac-12 South division teams, the Utes are 0-4 this season and 3-11 overall. ... Utah is 2-3 in night games and 2-2 in day games.

NATIONAL NOTABLES

Utah leads the nation in sacks per game (3.67) ... Senior defensive end/linebacker Trevor Reilly's three fumble recoveries is tied for third in the country ... Junior Dres Anderson is second in the nation in receptions of 50 yards or longer with six ... Utah is tied for fifth in the nation with 11 plays from scrimmage of 50 yards or longer.

LEADERS OF THE PAC

Utah leads the Pac-12 in net punting (40.7), sacks (33), sacks per game (3.67), fourth down conversion percentage (66.7/10-15) and onside kicks recovered (2-2) ... Sophomore punter Tom Hackett leads the Pac-12 in punt average (44.3), punts of 50+ yards (15) and punts inside the 20-yard line (22). He is tied for the longest punt this season in the Pac-12 (70 yards) ... Junior Dres Anderson leads the Pac-12 in yards per reception (20.1) ... Senior Trevor Reilly is tied for first in the league in fumbles recovered (3) and fumbles recovered per game (.33).

IN THE HUDDLE

Senior receiver Sean Fitzgerald was named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District team and is now eligible for the Academic All-America ballot ... Trevor Reilly, who plays both defensive end and linebacker, is one of 12 semifinalists for the Butkus Award, which honors the best college linebacker ... Freshman kicker Andy Phillips is one of 20 semifinalists for the Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award ... Offensive linemen Jeremiah Poutasi, Jeremiah Tofaeono, Vyncent Jones and Junior Salt have played every offensive snap for the past seven games ... Eight true freshmen have played: DT Sam Tevi, DB Hipolito Corporan, TE Siale Fakailoatonga, LB Uaea Masina, WR Dominque Hatfield, DE/LB Pita Taumoepenu, SN Chase Dominguez and RB Marcus Sanders-Williams. Dominguez has started in every game and Fakailoatonga has one start.

OUTSIDE THE LINES

The Kyle Whittingham radio show is Tuesday at 6 p.m. on ESPN700. It will be broadcast live from Harmon's City Creek and is free to the public.

CAPACITY CROWDS

Utah has 24 straight sellouts in Rice-Eccles Stadium extending back to the season-opener against Pittsburgh in 2010. Of the sellouts, 21 were played before standing-room only crowds that exceeded Rice-Eccles Stadium's 45,017-seat capacity. For the sixth-consecutive season, all 32,000 allotted season tickets were sold to Utah's home football games. Some bleacher seats and standing room tickets remain for Utah's home finale against Colorado on Nov. 30.

LAST WEEK

Utah led No. 23 Arizona State 19-7 entering the fourth quarter but picked up just one first down the rest of the way and the Sun Devils came back to win 20-19. Andy Phillips' career-long 51-yard field goal gave Utah its first lead, 9-7 in the second quarter. Utah expanded its lead in the third quarter--outscoring ASU 10-0--before the offense stalled. Punter Tom Hackett averaged 50.6 yards on nine punts--including a career-long 70-yarder--and dropped three inside the 20. Jason Whittingham's career-high 14 tackles (2.5 TFL, 1 sack) led a Utah defense that held ASU to 25 points below its season scoring average of 46.6 points per game. Trevor Reilly added nine tackles and 2.5 TFL (1.5 sacks) and Jacoby Hale and Nate Orchard both had eight tackles and 1.5 TFL.