Football begins preparation for Saturday’s matchup against Utah

The Trojans handed No. 19 Colorado its first loss of the season Saturday, driven by strong performances by the wide receivers and the stifling defense.

“We already knew we were gonna win, playing in the [Coliseum],” junior wide receiver Michael Pittman said. “We don’t lose in the Coli, but we just didn’t know how it was going to happen.”

They stuck with this confident mentality from the get-go.

“We didn’t really want to look at the ranking, we just looked at it as another game,” Pittman said.

Their upcoming game against Utah on Saturday looks to be another tough matchup, as the Utes are coming off double-digit wins against Stanford and Arizona.

Head coach Clay Helton commended the Utah run game, including junior quarterback Tyler Huntley, who averages 34.5 rushing yards per game.

“They’ve done a great job of getting the ball to [sophomore wide receiver Britain] Covey different ways,” Helton said. “Because of that run game, they’re creating some one-on-one matchups, and they’ve really hit their deep ball shots over the last two games.”

Senior linebackers Chase Hanson and Cody Barton are impact players on the Utes’ defense, Helton noted.

“As a whole unit, [we want] to give [freshman quarterback JT Daniels] time to throw the ball, so that our guys outside can make some plays,” redshirt sophomore Vavae Malepeai said.

The backs have been working on pass protection to better protect Daniels and open up the deep ball for other plays that take longer to develop.

“We play at Utah, so just a road mentality,” Malepeai said. “We want to go there, establish a run game, open up the pass [and] execute as a whole.”

Preparation was key coming into the Colorado game off the bye week, but the mentality for Utah is a bit different.

“[Utah has] a lot of different schemes that they really go on the fly with, most[ly] on their defense,” Malepeai said. “So we’re not unexpecting what they’re going to do, we just [have to] see it on the field and react [to] it.”

Injury report

Senior linebacker Porter Gustin, who is out for the season with a fractured ankle, had a successful surgery on Monday. Freshman cornerback Olaijah Griffin is out with a shoulder injury. Sophomore defensive lineman Brandon Pili was limited, also with a shoulder injury. Redshirt senior cornerback Jonathan Lockett was out with a hip injury.

Senior linebacker and team captain Cameron Smith did not practice due to a lingering hamstring injury that kept him out of Saturday’s game. Freshman linebacker Palaie Gaoteote was out with a concussion suffered against Colorado.