Utah football's 3 keys to victory vs. Arizona State

In Dillingham's defense, the Sun Devils nearly won both times they trailed by 17 points to Mississippi State and TCU, though they came just short of completing their comeback attempt against the Bulldogs in Starkville, Mississippi. But to his point, averaging 4.0 points per first quarter probably won't cut it in Big 12 play.

Arizona State hasn't scored a first-quarter touchdown since Aug. 30, when it beat Northern Arizona, 38-19, in its season opener, and has failed to put up 7 points on a power conference opponent in the first frame this season. Utah hasn't been known to jump on its opponents early, though it's done so with more consistency; the Utes scored 10 or more first-quarter points in three of their first five games and average 8.8 points in the quarter heading into Saturday.

If the Utes are able to seize momentum out of the gate and keep their foot on the gas, they'd likely limit the impact of Arizona State's top-notch rushing attack over the course of the first half, forcing the Sun Devils to do more through the air while making them more one-dimensional.

2. Close it out in the fourth quarter

The saying "it's not about how you start, but how you finish" is a cliche for a reason — both aspects in the context of any competitive environment are equally important to achieving victory.

Saturday night might provide exact proof of that, as Arizona State looks to snap its trend of slow starts while Utah focuses on finishing strong against a team known for its late-game heroics.

"That was our big problem in the Texas Tech game a couple weeks back; we didn't finish very well," said Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham during his weekly press conference. "We're in the game all the way to the mid-fourth quarter, and then didn't do much there the rest of the way. So that's something we need to do, is play the full 60 minutes."

Indeed, the Utes won't stand much of a chance if they yield 24 points in the fourth quarter on Saturday. Especially given how the Sun Devils have performed in crunch time as of late.

"They've been in some tight games this year," Whittingham said of the Sun Devils. "Although they lost the Mississippi State game, that was a one-score game. But they have done a good job of pulling those games out and being on the winning end of those."

3. Create havoc on defense

Disrupting the Sun Devils' potent offense will require the Utes to make some big plays on defense, which is something they haven't done much of this season despite what their efficiency margins might suggest.

While Utah has only committed six turnovers, it's only taken the ball away seven times, equating to a turnover margin that ranks No. 52 in the FBS and No. 12 in the Big 12.

"We're usually up in the top third of the league in [turnover margin], so that's something that's got to hopefully change as well," Whittingham said. "We got to do a better job of that."

Conversely, the Sun Devils have the second-best turnover margin in the Big 12 with nine takeaways to only four giveaways. The only time they lost the turnover battle was during their 24-20 loss to Mississippi State, in which the Bulldogs picked off Leavitt twice, including on the Sun Devils' last drive of the game.

Outside of that 4-point loss, the Sun Devils are 4-0 this season when they don't lose the turnover battle.

Despite a rare interception from Devon Dampier, Utah was able to handle West Virginia in its last outing without forcing a turnover of its own. But against a dynamic offense like Arizona State's, it would be very unlikely for a similar scenario to play out in the Utes' favor.

It's worth noting the Sun Devils have been among the worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision group in third down conversion rate (30.9%, No. 127 in the FBS) while the Utes defense has been exceptional at getting off the field, allowing their opponents to move the chains on just 31.3% of their third down tries (the No. 25-best mark in the FBS and No. 4 in the Big 12). If those trends continue Saturday, it'll be difficult for Arizona State to sustain long-winded drives.

Still, Utah's defense will need to find a way to give its offense a short field to work when it can in order to keep the Sun Devils' out of rhythm.