Utah heads into Week 11 with momentum, confidence, and a record that keeps getting harder to ignore. The Utes are 9-0 after taking down BYU 28-20 in the Holy War, a win that pushed them into the conversation as Big 12 favorites and legitimate National Championship contenders.
Now comes a different kind of test against No. 22 Arizona, which survived TCU 29-28 last week. Utah has been the steadier team all season, but this matchup still carries the usual danger of a ranked opponent waiting for a slip.
The biggest reason Utah has separated itself is Devon Dampier. The quarterback has been the engine for everything the Utes do on offense, and he was nearly unstoppable against BYU.
He accounted for all four Utah touchdowns, throwing for two and running for two more. If Arizona can’t slow him down, Utah has every reason to keep rolling.
The betting market has not fully caught up to what Utah has shown. The Utes enter Week 11 ranked 13th nationally in net adjusted EPA per play and seventh in net success rate. Arizona sits 30th and 29th in those same categories, which is a gap that matters when the game starts getting tight.
There’s also a matchup issue that tilts toward Utah. Arizona has struggled to run the ball consistently this season, and that becomes a problem against a defense with a strong secondary.
Utah fits that profile well, ranking 14th in pass defense success rate. That combination points to a difficult afternoon for the Wildcats’ offense.
Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
In Other News...
Arizona Faces Its Toughest Test Yet Against A Different Utah Team
Utah arrives in Tucson looking every bit like the kind of opponent that can expose where Arizona still has work to do. The Utes have been one of the stories of the season, and Josh Furlong of KSL.com pointed to the growth of quarterback Devon Dampier as a major reason why, along with the steadier culture coach Morgan Scalley has built around the program. For Arizona, it is a chance to measure itself against a team that has handled just about everything thrown its way.
The matchup also brings a few layers beyond the ranking and the reputation. Utahs offense has enough playmakers to stress a defense, while its own game plan on the other side figures to be shaped by how it wants to deal with Arizonas passing attack. Injury updates add another wrinkle, and the Utes enter the week with some uncertainty around key personnel even as they continue to look like a group built for late-season pressure. [Read more 🡒]
Arizonas Young Frontcourt Has A Big Chance To Build Momentum
Arizona gets another early-season chance to settle in Tuesday night at McKale Center, where Northern Arizona comes in for a nonconference meeting that should give the Wildcats a chance to keep building rhythm. The matchup also puts the spotlight on a young Arizona frontcourt, with freshmen Caleb Holt and Caleb Holmes expected to be part of the story as the Wildcats look to stack consecutive wins and keep moving in the right direction.
Northern Arizona brings its own pieces to watch, including sophomore guard Chris Komin and freshman Lucas Toukam, but the bigger question for Arizona is how quickly its young bigs can turn these kinds of games into momentum. The Wildcats have long handled this series and will be expected to do so again, yet November games like this often matter less for the final margin than for how a teams newest players respond when the schedule gives them a manageable stage. [Read more 🡒]
Arizona's First Week Already Changed The Big 12 Conversation
The first week of the season already has the Big 12 looking like a league that could spend the winter arguing with itself at the top. Houston has surged to No. 1 in the conference power rankings after a strong win, Kansas is still sitting near the top despite dealing with a key injury, and the league now has five teams in the updated AP Top 25. Arizona is part of that crowded picture too, even if the Wildcats are on the wrong side of the early conversation after a rough opening stretch.
Northern Arizona comes next on Tuesday, which gives Arizona a chance to start steadying things before the schedule tightens again with Auburn and UConn looming. Around the Big 12, the early results have already been uneven enough to make every ranking feel temporary, with Texas Tech, BYU, Iowa State, TCU, Baylor and West Virginia all helping shape a conference race that still looks wide open. For Arizona, the next few games will say a lot about whether that opening loss was just a stumble or the start of a longer climb back. [Read more 🡒]