Football Travels to Northern Illinois

Saturday, September 8

DeKalb, IL

5:30 PM

University of Utah

Northern Illinois

Photo by: Steve C. Wilson

9/3/2018 10:48 AM | Football

Game Notes Press Conference Quotes

The Game
Utah (1-0, 0-0 Pac-12) plays Northern Illinois (0-1, 0-0 MAC) in DeKalb, Ill., on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 6:30 p.m. CT (5:30 p.m. MT) in Huskie Stadium. ESPNews is televising the game. Search #UTAHvsNIU for conversation.

Quick Hits
> Utah is playing Northern Illinois for the first time. It is also the first time the Utes have played a school from the Mid-American Conference.
> Northern Illinois will return the game next year, playing the Utes in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Sept. 7, 2019.
> Utah is playing a team from the state of Illinois for just the second time. The Utes lost to Illinois in Champaign in 1988.
> In their conference preseason media polls, Utah was picked to finish second in the Pac-12 South Division and NIU was picked to win the MAC West Division.
> Utah is making its first appearance on ESPNews.
> Utah has won its first road game for the past five years with wins at BYU (2013, 2017), Michigan (2014), Fresno State (2015) and San Jose State (2016).
> In his 14th year as Utah's head coach, Kyle Whittingham is the longest-tenured coach in the Pac-12 Conference and the third-longest tenured coach at the same school in the nation (NCAA FBS).
> Including five bowl games, the Utes are 27-1 in non-conference games since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. Utah has won 20-straight non-conference games since an overtime loss at Utah State in 2012.

Meet NIU
> NIU's 2018 non-conference schedule ranks among the toughest in the country with road games against Iowa (a 33-7 loss), Florida State and BYU, and a home game vs. Utah.
> The Huskies have played in nine bowl games in the last 10 seasons.
> NIU has won nine games against schools from Power 5 conferences in the last 15 years, including four road games in the last five years against Big Ten schools (Iowa and Purdue in 2013, Northwestern in 2014 and Nebraska in 2017).
> Huskie junior defensive end Sutton Smith led the nation in tackles for loss (29.5) and quarterback sacks (14.0) last year and was a consensus All-American. The Huskies ranked second nationally in quarterback sacks and first in tackles for loss in 2017.

Statchat
> Utah leads the nation in total defense (59.0).
> Utah leads the nation in first down defense (3).
> Utah ranks second in the nation and leads the Pac-12 in passing yards allowed (13.0)
> Utah ranks fourth in the nation and leads the Pac-12 in pass efficiency defense (27.69)
> Utah is tied for fourth in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in tackles for loss (12.0).
> Utah is sixth in the nation and second in the Pac-12 in net punting (47.67).
> Utah leads the Pac-12 in rushing offense (268.0).
> Utah leads the Pac-12 in first downs (25).
> Utah is second in the Pac-12 in total offense (587.0).
> Utah is second in the Pac-12 in rushing defense (46.0).
> Utah is second in the Pac-12 in time of possession (33:12).
> Utah is tied for second in the Pac-12 in scoring defense (10.0)
> Utah is tied for third in the Pac-12 in passing offense (319.0).
See sidebar on page 3 for more Utah rankings.

Two Minute Drill
After holding Weber State to just 59 yards of total offense (the third fewest by a Ute opponent in school history), Utah leads the nation in total defense. The Utes are also the nation's leader in first down defense after allowing Weber State just three … Bradlee Anae has been named to the watch list for the Ted Hendricks Award, which honors the top defensive end in college football. For a complete list of Utes on preseason watch lists, see page 10 … 64 Utes saw action in the opener.

In the Huddle
The only change to last week's depth chart is at kick returner, where Julian Blackmon will join Britain Covey … Players making their first career starts against Weber State were redshirt freshman Nick Ford at offensive guard, sophomore Pita Tonga at defensive tackle and redshirt freshman Mika Tafua at defensive end … 19 players made their Utah debut against Weber State, including seven true freshmen (Malone Mataele, Solomon Enis, Devin Brumfield, Maddie Golden, Braeden E. Daniels, Brant Kuithe and Cole Fotheringham) and six redshirt freshmen (Ford, Tafua, Bronson Boyd, TJ Green, Jason Shelley and Jaylen Dixon) … Utah has 41 players of Polynesian descent on its roster.