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The Arizona Wildcats are 1-4 against the Utah Utes since November of 2015, but they'll have a chance to close the gap a little bit on Saturday. Arizona and Utah will face off in a Pac-12 battle at 2 p.m. ET at Arizona Stadium. The Wildcats aren't favored, but they just beat the odds in their last game, so don't count them out.
Arizona ran circles around the California Golden Bears last week, and the extra yardage (331 yards vs. 122 yards) paid off. Arizona beat California 10-3. The score was all tied up at the break nothing to nothing, but Arizona was the better team in the second half. Their only offensive touchdown came from RB Michael Wiley. The Wildcats' victory came on a ten-yard rush from Wiley with only 2:21 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Since the offense as a whole struggled to get points on the board, Arizona's defense had to pick up the slack, as it got past California's offensive line to sack QB Ryan Glover five times for a total loss of 26 yards. Leading the way was DT Kyon Barrs and his 2.5 sacks. Barrs now has five sacks through nine games.
Meanwhile, Utah was no stranger to outgunning their opponent yards-wise, either, with 581 yards compared to the Stanford Cardinal's 167 last Friday. Utah was completely in charge, breezing past the Cardinal 52-7 on the road. With the Utes ahead 38 to nothing at the half, the matchup was all but over already. RB Tavion Thomas went supernova for Utah as he rushed for four TDs and 177 yards on 20 carries. Thomas put himself on the highlight reel with a 58-yard TD scramble in the second quarter.
The wins brought Arizona up to 1-8 and Utah to 6-3. A couple stats to keep in the back of your head while watching: The Wildcats are 249th worst in the nation in thrown interceptions, having thrown 16 on the season. The Utes have had an even harder time: they are stumbling into the contest with the 138th most thrown interceptions in the nation, having thrown five on the season. It's possible one of these Achilles' heels will wind up tripping the losing team up.
