Utah @ Colorado preview
Folsom Field
Last Meeting ( Nov 28, 2015 ) Colorado 14, Utah 20
Each of the five Pac-12 meetings between Utah and Colorado have been decided by one possession. And it’s expected to be no different Saturday night when the ninth-ranked Buffaloes host the 20th-ranked Utes with the Pac-12 South Division title on the line.
Colorado, which entered 2016 with all of five Pac-12 wins in its first five seasons in the conference, is 7-1 this year but still needs a win in Saturday’s regular-season finale to wrap up its first division title since winning the Big 12 North in 2005 – also the program’s last winning season. However, if Utah can spring the road upset, USC would win the South due to its head-to-head win over the Buffaloes and play in the Dec. 2 Pac-12 Championship Game. But that’s something Colorado doesn’t want to begin to consider given how deep into this Cinderella story it already is. “We look at going 1-0 each week – that’s what we’ve been about all year,” Colorado cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon told the Boulder Daily Camera earlier this week. “It makes it very easy to be successful each week when you just focus on that individual game – not the accolades, not what you’re going to accomplish – but just going out and doing what we’ve done all year to be successful. When those accomplishments come, and the game is over, we definitely enjoy and appreciate it.”
TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Colorado -10
ABOUT UTAH (8-3, 5-3 Pac-12): The Utes would’ve also been in the thick of the South title talk this week, but last Saturday’s last-second upset loss to visiting Oregon knocked Utah out of the running. The Utes, though, feature the Pac-12’s second-best rushing attack (213.4 yards per game) behind senior running back Joe Williams who has rolled up 1,013 yards and nine touchdowns in five games since “un-retiring” in mid-October. Defensively, the Utes are allowing 23.6 points and 387.3 yards per game and are led by likely conference defensive player of the year Hunter Dimick, a havoc-wreaking senior end who leads the Pac-12 in sacks (14) and tackles for loss (19.5).
ABOUT COLORADO (9-2, 7-1): The Buffaloes have won five straight games, which is the program’s longest winning streak since 2002, and are 5-0 at home for the first time since 1994 – their last perfect season at Folsom Field. A good deal of the credit belongs to senior quarterback Sefo Liufau, who last Saturday threw for 345 yards and rushed for a career-high 108 yards and three TDs in a 38-24 win over visiting Washington State to earn Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors. Meanwhile, the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week is Colorado reserve safety Nick Fisher, who had six solo tackles, including four on third or fourth down, and one pass defensed last week for a unit which leads the conference in total defense (322.4 yards allowed per game) and pass defense (190.4 yards).
EXTRA POINTS
1. Utah has won four straight and four of five in the series with Colorado, including a 20-14 home victory a season ago, since the programs entered the Pac-12 in 2011.
2. The Buffaloes’ win over then-No. 20 Washington State last week snapped the program’s 23-game losing streak against ranked foes.
3. Both teams rank in the top 15 nationally in turnover margin with Utah a plus-9 and Colorado a plus-8.
PREDICTION: Colorado 27, Utah 20