No. 24 Utah Has Bye Before Playing Oregon State

10/6/2014 12:00 AM | Football

Oct. 6, 2014

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Quotes from Coach Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

> No. 24 Utah (4-1, 1-1 Pac-12) has a bye this week before playing Oregon State (4-1, 1-1) on Thursday, Oct. 16 in Corvallis, Ore. The Beavers also have a bye. The Utah-OSU game will kick off at 7:00 PT/8:00 MT in Reser Stadium and will be televised on FOX Sports 1. Radio is ESPN700 AM and Sirius/XM.

> Utah has broken into the A.P. rankings at No. 24, its first appearance in the Top 25 since 2010. See page 16 for Utah's ranking history.

> Utah is off to its best start since winning its first eight games in 2010. Its 1-1 conference start is its best since joining the Pac-12 in 2011.

> Utah, which had 10 sacks in its 30-28 win over No. 8 UCLA on Oct. 4, leads the nation in both sacks (28 total/5.6 per game) and tackles for loss (51 total/10.2 per game). Nate Orchard ranks No. 1 nationally in total sacks (8.5) and sacks per game (1.7).

> After Utah's win over UCLA on Oct. 4, Nate Orchard was named the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week and the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) National Defensive Lineman of the Week. Also honored were Andy Phillips as a Lou Groza Star of the Week and Tom Hackett as the CFPA National Punter of the Week. It is Phillips' second Lou Groza award this season.

> Utah's first victory over a Pac-12 team as a conference member was against Oregon State in 2011. Utah trails the series with OSU 6-11-1 and is 1-5-1 in Corvallis. See sidebar on page 2 for complete series notes.

> Utah is 1-1 against Oregon State in Thursday games, losing in Corvallis in 2007 and winning in Salt Lake City in 2008. In conference play against Pac-12 teams, Utah is 0-2 in Thursday games (USC in 2012 and UCLA in 2013). The Utes are 2-3 all-time in Thursday games against Pac-12 opponents.

STATCHAT
Utah's 10 sacks against UCLA is tied for the most by any team in a game this season and the most against an FBS team ... Utah leads the nation in net punting (45.20 yards). Of Utah's 30 punts, just seven have been returned (for a total of 23 yards). Tom Hackett ranks third nationally and first in the Pac-12 in punt average (48.0) ... Kaelin Clay is the only player in the country this season with three punt returns for touchdowns and four total returns (1 kickoff) for a touchdown. He ranks third in the nation in punt return average (23.1). Utah ranks 10th in the nation in punt return average (19.07) ... The Utes lead the Pac-12 in rushing defense (113.4 ypg) ... Utah is tied for 11th nationally in turnover margin (1.2 average, 9 gained/3 lost). Utah's three turnovers lost is tied for third-fewest in the country. ... See sidebar on page 3 for more Utah rankings.

TWO MINUTE DRILL
Kyle Whittingham earned career victory No. 80 against UCLA. Whittingham is 80-40 in his 10th season as Utah's head coach. He has participated in 165 wins in 21 total years on the staff--including 10 years as an assistant coach--which is the most by any football coach in school history ... Ute cornerbacks' coach Sharrieff Shah led Utah to its only victory to date in Corvallis in 1991. He had 12 tackles against OSU, including four sacks and five tackles for loss, and forced two fumbles. He was named the Sports Illustrated National Defensive Player of the Week ... Utah is 1-0 coming off a bye this season with a win over Michigan on Sept. 20. Whittingham is 7-4 after regular-season byes. His victories came over Wyoming (2005, 2007), Colorado State (2006, 2009), New Mexico (2008), Iowa State (2010) and Michigan. Losses were to Washington (2011), USC (2012), UCLA (2013) and Arizona State (2013).

IN THE HUDDLE
Dres Anderson has 2,012 career receiving yards and is just the fifth player in school history to reach 2,000 career receiving yards ... Redshirt freshman Evan Eggiman (Hillsboro, Ore./Liberty HS), who plays on special teams, is the lone Oregon native on the roster ... In last year's 51-48 overtime loss to Oregon State, Travis Wilson passed for 279 yards and two touchdowns, and rushed for a career-high 142 yards and three TDs ... 11 true freshmen have played: Christian Drews, Jameson Field, Andre Godfrey, Wallace Gonzalez, Boobie Hobbs, Lowell Lotulelei, Nick Mika, Monte Seabrook, Marcus Williams, Tavaris Williams and Kenric Young.