How to watch, listen or stream the game – Deseret News

No. 12 Utah (2-0, 0-0 Big 12) at Utah State (1-1, 0-0 Mountain West)

The trends

For Utah: The Utes are 2-0 after defeating Southern Utah 49-0 in their opening game and Baylor 23-13 at Rice-Eccles Stadium after starting quarterback Cam Rising left late in the second quarter with a finger injury.

For the state of Utah: Quarterback Bryson Barnes, the former Ute, led a comeback after starting QB Spencer Petras left the game with an injury as the Aggies beat Robert Morris 36-14 to open the season. Last week, USU lost 48-0 at USC and was outscored in total yardage 544-190.

What you should pay attention to

Utah quarterback Cam Rising is reportedly “probably not” playing after suffering a finger injury that sidelined him in Utah's win over Baylor, so Isaac Wilson will likely start at quarterback for the Utes in Logan.

Wilson played in two halves in both of Utah's games, under completely different circumstances. Against SUU, he was used when the Utes had a significant lead, allowing the Utes to catch a break. Rising finished the game with 74 passing yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Against Baylor, which led 23-0, Utah's game plan was to limit turnovers and keep the ball on the ground because the defense was playing so well. Wilson completed 4 of 9 passes for 30 yards as the Utes beat the Bears.

Against Utah State, Wilson will not only have a game plan tailored to him, but he should have completed a significant amount of practice this week. It will be an opportunity to really show what he can do at the college level with all the game preparation.

“I think it would definitely help Isaac if he could do 80 or 70 percent of the reps all week. Then he would be more advanced and just more experienced,” said Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.

Key players

Jalen Royals, Utah State WR: Utah will have its hands full on Saturday with one of the best wide receivers in the state of Utah and the Mountain West Conference. Last year, the Royals had 1,080 yards and 15 touchdowns (a USU record) on 71 receptions, which ranked 21st in the FBS. This year, the Royals have 11 receptions for 124 yards and a touchdown.

A potential NFL draft pick for next spring, Royals not only has great hands, but also brings speed and the ability to make big plays to the Aggies' offense, which scored 33.2 points per game last season.

This year, USU's offense hasn't been as explosive as the shutout against USC showed, and the Utes hope to have similar success against their old quarterback Barnes, who could be back in action on Saturday. The Utes' top priority on defense is to shut down the Royals and force Barnes to look for other options.

Quote

“It's an in-state rivalry and I believe that's good for Utah State. It doesn't have as much attention as the rivalry game with the guys down south, but it's certainly a game that gets in-state attention and is exciting for Utah State. — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

“I think the most important thing is that we keep our emotions under control, right? We know we're going to be highly motivated. Everyone on this team was probably hoping to get recruited by Utah, but that's probably not the case. So we know our players are going to have that chip on their shoulder of wanting to prove to themselves that they can play at the highest level.” — Nate Dreiling, Utah State interim coach

Next

• Utah: at Oklahoma State
• State of Utah: in the temple

Utah Schedule

• August 29: Utah 49, Southern Utah 0
• September 7: Utah 23, Baylor 12
• September 14: at Utah State (2:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network)
• September 21: at Oklahoma State (2 p.m., Fox)
• September 28: Arizona
• October 5: Bye
• October 11: at Arizona State (8:30 p.m., ESPN)
• October 19: TCU
• October 26: in Houston
• November 2nd: Bye
• November 9: BYU
• November 16: in Colorado
• November 23: Iowa State
• November 29: at UCF (6 p.m., Fox)

All times are in the Mountain Time Zone.