Football Hosts Oregon on Saturday

Saturday, November 10

Salt Lake City, UT

3:30 PM

University of Utah

Oregon

11/5/2018 11:24 AM | Football

Game Notes Press Conference Quotes

The Game
Utah (6-3, 4-3 Pac-12), ranked No. 24 in the Coaches' poll, hosts Oregon (6-3, 3-3 Pac-12) on Saturday, Nov. 10 at 3:30 p.m. in Rice-Eccles Stadium. Pac-12 Networks will televise the game. Search #UOvsUTAH for conversation and follow @utahathletics for live updates.

Bowls & Polls
> At 6-3, Utah is bowl eligible for the 13th time under coach Kyle Whittingham. Whittingham has the best bowl win percentage in NCAA history (92%) and his 11 bowl wins (11-1) is tied for second among active coaches.
> With its loss at Arizona State, Utah dropped out of the AP poll and slipped eight places to No. 24 in the Coaches poll. The Utes were ranked 16th in both polls last week and were No. 15 in the first CFP ranking of 2018.

Quick Hits
> With a 4-3 conference record, Utah is tied for first in the Pac-12 South Division with USC and Arizona. The Utes have the tiebreaker over both teams, but do not against ASU—currently 3-3 in conference play with a win over Utah.
> Utah heads into Saturday's game against Oregon with a 1-2 record against the Pac-12 North. Utah has a win over Stanford and losses to Washington and Washington State.
> Starting quarterback Tyler Huntley is lost for the season to an injury suffered last week at ASU. Replacing him is redshirt freshman Jason Shelley. Moving to No. 2 on the depth chart is sophomore Drew Lisk, a former walk-on awarded a scholarship in the summer.
> Junior running back Zack Moss, a semifinalist for the Maxwell Award as the Collegiate Player of the Year, has 1,092 rushing yards. He is just the fourth player in program history with two 1,000-yard seasons (he rushed for 1,173 yards in 2017).
> The Utes have sold out 55 straight games in Rice-Eccles Stadium since the 2010 season opener, including 52 standing room-only crowds.

The Series
> The Utes are 1-4 against the Ducks since joining the Pac-12 and 9-22 all-time. Utah's sole Pac-12 win came in Eugene in 2015.
> Utah last beat Oregon in Salt Lake City in 2003, where the Ducks lead 10-4. See page 2 for more on the series.

Two Minute Drill
Pac-12 Network will be in Salt Lake City all week capturing behind-the-scenes footage of the Utah football program for an episode of The Drive. Segments of the show will first appear on the Pac-12's Facebook Watch page on Wednesday, Nov. 14 to promote a 30-minute episode that will air on Pac-12 Network on Sunday, Nov. 25 at 10 p.m. MT. The episode of The Drive will also include coverage of Oregon and Washington … Utah is 0-2 in day games and 6-1 in night games … Utah's best offensive quarter is the second (85 points) and its best defensive quarter is the third (27 points).

In the Huddle
After missing four and a half games with an injury, senior offensive lineman Lo Falemaka returned against ASU. Falemaka, who started the first four games at center, split time at left guard with Nick Ford vs. ASU … Cody Barton had a career game against Oregon as a sophomore in 2016, making 20 tackles, which stands as the most by a Ute since 1991 … Two Utes are semifinalists for major awards: Zack Moss (Maxwell Award/player of the year) and Matt Gay (Lou Groza Award/top placekicker). Gay won the Groza Award in his first NCAA season in 2017 … Nine true freshmen have played: Solomon Enis, Cole Fotheringham, Brant Kuithe, Devin Brumfield, Braeden E. Daniels, Maddie Golden, R.J. Hubert and Malone Mataele … Five true or redshirt freshmen have started: Solomon Enis, Bronson Boyd, Jaylen Dixon, Cole Fotheringham, Brant Kuithe and Nick Ford … Utah has 41 players of Polynesian descent on its roster.

Outside the Lines
The ESPN 700 Smith's Coach's Show with Kyle Whittingham airs every Tuesday from 6-7 p.m. on ESPN 700 and the ESPN 700 app. The coach's show is also streamed live on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/user/uathletics ... Use the hashtag #UOvsUTAH all week to follow the conversation on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram … 20 former Utes are on NFL rosters this week (see page 12 for current list).

Game Day Activities
There will be a moment of silence before the game to honor the memory of recently deceased track and field student-athlete Lauren McCluskey. The Utah team will run on to the field waving a flag with the winged foot logo created in her honor and the MUSS will also have a special banner … Several patriotic festivities are planned in advance of Veterans Day, which is Sunday. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats early for a pre-game flyover by the Utah Air National Guard in a KC-135 airplane. Brigadier General Christine Burckle, Commander of the Utah Air National Guard, will deliver the game ball and student veterans from each branch of military will lead the team onto the field. The University of Utah student veteran of the year will be recognized and the Utah marching band will present a patriotic performance featuring a 50-yard USA flag pulled across the field. Official Veterans Day apparel can be purchased from Utah Red Zone Stores … The Ute Walk starts at 2 p.m. on the corner of 500 S. and Guardsman Way. The first 1,000 fans at the Ute Walk will receive a 125-year Utah football patch … For a full list of 2018 home game promotions, visit UtahUtes.com/Promotions … The Utah ROTC's Ute Thunder blasts a pre-game cannon call to notify fans outside the stadium that kickoff is 30 minutes away.