Arizona State Hosts Utah in Pac-12 South Battle

The 14th ranked Arizona State Sun Devils (6-1, 4-1) will welcome the 17th ranked Utah Utes (6-1, 3-1) into Sun Devil Stadium in a pivotal Pac-12 South showdown on Saturday night.

The winner of this contest will gain sole possession of first place in the division with the ability to control their own destiny the rest of the way. The Sun Devils happen to hold a 10-game winning streak against the Utes.

Before the 2014 college football season kicked off the favorites in the Pac-12 South were USC and UCLA. Entering week 10, Arizona State leads the Pac-12 South and is followed by Arizona and Utah with USC and UCLA after that.

Arizona State is currently riding a three-game winning streak, including back-to-back games against tough conference opponents (Stanford and Washington) in which the defense only allowed 10 points in each game.

The Sun Devils offense has had another great start to the season and currently sit at 24th in the nation in points per game with 36.6. Jaelen Strong has continued his success from the early going and currently sits at 52 catches, 744 yards, and seven touchdowns.

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Utah holds their own on the road this year with key victories against Michigan, UCLA, and Oregon State. With the help of their perfect road record they are bowl eligible for the first time in three years. Most of their success is due to the fabulous running of Devontae Booker.

Booker has rushed for at least 100 yards in each of the past four games (229 yards against Oregon State). He currently ranks 19th in the nation in rushing yards (844) and has also posted the 31st most rushing touchdowns (eight).

On top of a great rushing attack, the Utes are a stingy defensive unit as well. They enter this week averaging five sacks per game. There hasn’t been an NCAA team to finish with averaging four sacks per game since Nebraska in 2005.

In a similar situation last season the Sun Devils welcomed Bishop Sankey of Washington into Sun Devil Stadium. Sankey was a top-flight running back just as Booker is and the Sun Devil defense contained him throughout the entire contest as Sankey finished with 13 carries for 22 yards.

This game will come down to how well Arizona State can contain Booker on the ground. If the Sun Devils can contain Booker like they did Sankey last year then Arizona State should walk away from this game victorious and with the Pac-12 South championship in sight.