Utah Football Hosts Washington State on Homecoming

9/22/2014 12:00 AM | Football

Sept. 22, 2014

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Quotes from Coach Whittingham's Weekly Press Conference

> Utah (3-0, 0-0 Pac-12) hosts Washington State (1-3, 0-1 Pac-12) in Homecoming on Saturday, Sept. 27 at 6 p.m. MDT in Rice-Eccles Stadium. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks. Radio is ESPN700 AM and Sirius 139/XM 197.

> Some bleacher seats and standing room tickets remain for Saturday's game. Purchase tickets at UtahUtes.com, 801-581-UTIX and Rice-Eccles Stadium.

> Kyle Whittingham's next win will be career victory No. 80 as Utah's head coach. Whittingham is 79-39 in his 10th season. He has participated in 164 wins in 21 total years on Utah's staff--including 10 years as an assistant coach--which is the most by any football coach in school history.

> The Utes are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2010, when they won their first eight games.

> Saturday's game against WSU is Utah's 2014 Pac-12 Conference opener. The Utes are 0-3 in Pac-12 openers, losing to USC in 2011 (23-14), Arizona State in 2012 (37-7) and Oregon State in 2013 (51-48 in overtime).

> The campus has a variety of events planned during a weeklong celebration of 2014 Homecoming, which is themed "Believe in U." See Homecoming Events and alumni.utah.edu/Homecoming for more.

> Utah leads the series with Washington State 7-6. The series is tied 3-3 in Salt Lake City and Utah leads 4-2 in Pullman. For more, see boxed inset on page 2.

> Gionni Paul, Andy Phillips and Kaelin Clay combined to win three national and two Pac-12 player of the week awards for Utah's win over Michigan. See top of page 2 for more.

UTES RAKE IN NATIONAL HONORS

Three Utes won national and Pac-12 Conference honors for their role in last week's 26-10 win over Michigan. Playing in his first game as a Ute, junior linebacker Gionni Paul was named the Athlon Sports National Defensive Player of the Week and the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week. Paul led Utah with 14 tackles, an interception and a fumble recovery in his first game in two years. Paul redshirted last season after transferring from Miami (Fla.) and missed the first two games this fall while recovering from a foot injury ... Andy Phillips, who outscored Michigan on his own by making field goals of 50, 48, 38 and 35 yards and hitting both PAT tries, was named the Pac-12 Special Teams Player of the Week and a Lou Groza Star of the Week ... Kaelin Clay's 66-yard punt return for a touchdown that gave Utah a 10-3 lead over the Wolverines earned him the College Football Performance Awards (CFPA) Punt Returner of the Week.

RANKINGS BLITZ

Utah is tied for second in the nation and leads the Pac-12 in both sacks per game (5.0) and tackles for loss per game (9.7) ... Utah leads the nation in net punting (46.7 yards). Of Utah's 15 punts, just three have been returned (for a total of four yards). Tom Hackett ranks third nationally in punt average (48.3) ... Utah ranks second in the country in kickoff return average (33.5) ... Kaelin Clay is the only player in the country this season with two punt returns for touchdowns and three total returns (1 kickoff) for a touchdown. He ranks seventh in punt return average (23.8) ... Utah ranks No. 7 in the nation in scoring offense (No. 2 in the Pac-12), averaging 47.0 points per game ... Utah ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and 10th in the nation in pass efficiency rating (172.81). Travis Wilson is ranked No. 3 nationally in passing efficiency (194.8) ... Nate Orchard is tied for third in the nation in sacks per game (1.5) ... See sidebar on page 3 for more Utah rankings.

TWO MINUTE DRILL

Utah received votes in both the Associated Press (31 votes) and USA Today Coaches' (8 votes) polls. Utah last appeared in the national rankings at No. 23 in the final 2010 Coaches' poll ... The Utes are 57-32-4 all-time in homecoming games and 11-11-1 against Pac-12 schools. Utah has never hosted Washington State in a homecoming game ... Utah's coaches will participate in the American Football Coaches Association's national charity project for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy by wearing Coach to Cure MD patches on the sidelines in Saturday's game against WSU ... Michigan never crossed into the red zone in last week's 26-10 Utah win in the Big House ... Utah is winning the turnover battle 5-2 after three games. Utah's three interceptions against Michigan matched its total from last season and were its most in a game since 2012 (3 vs. Colorado).

IN THE HUDDLE

With 1,974 career receiving yards, Dres Anderson needs just 26 more yards to become the fifth receiver in school history to reach 2,000 yards ... Senior Nate Orchard, a three-year starter at defensive end, got the start at stud linebacker against Michigan. Orchard also played at right end and finished with seven tackles, 2.0 sacks and a pass breakup ... Making their first career starts at UM were linebacker Gionni Paul, defensive end Jason Fanaika and receiver Kaelin Clay ... 10 true freshmen have played: Christian Drews, Wallace Gonzalez, Boobie Hobbs, Lowell Lotulelei, Nick Mika, Monte Seabrook, Logan Stott, Marcus Williams, Tavaris Williams and Kenric Young.

HOMECOMING EVENTS

The theme of 2014 Homecoming week is "Believe in U" and information on locations, times and more can be found at alumni.utah.edu/Homecoming. The week's events include: RedFest, Legacy of Lowell Community Service Day, Greek Row House Decorating, ASUU Lunch Box Series, Emeritus Reunion, SongFest, Crimson Rally, Scholarship Scramble Golf Tournament, Student Dance, Scholarship 5K & KidsK and Homecoming Tailgate.

OUTSIDE THE LINES

The Kyle Whittingham radio show is Tuesday at 6 p.m. MDT on ESPN700. The show will be broadcast live from the Desert Edge Brewery at Trolley Square and is free to the public ... The pre-game Ute Walk starts at 3:30 p.m. on the corner of Guardsman Way and 500 South. The first 100 text line participants will win a special Utah gift at the Ute Walk. To sign up for the Utah Football promotional text line, text "UtahFB" to 53535 ... Members of the 2014 Homecoming court will be honored during the game ... The 2014 Don Reddish Award will be presented to swim and dive coach Joe Dykstra by its namesake and former Utah swim coach Don Reddish. The Reddish Award is presented annually to the outstanding Utah coach of an Olympic sport.

Pac-12 Networks features Brian Blechen's textbook tackle against Michigan's Devin Funchess here ...