Arizona State Sun Devils' Week 6 Preview Against Utah Utes

It will be the first Pac-12 showdown between southern conference foes Arizona State and Utah this Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT.

Utah (2-2, 0-2) will be hosting the No. 22 Sun Devils (4-1, 2-0) in yet again another difficult matchup for the Utes.

The Sun Devils come into the game as favorites, and that is to no one's surprise.

The Utes have yet to been able to get anything going so far this season, especially coming off a big 31-14 loss at home to Washington. If Washington was able to handle Utah that easily, expect the Sun Devils to have their way with the Utes, too.

Arizona State is coming back from a big scare against the Oregon State Beavers, but expect the Sun Devils to not sink to their opponent's level like they did in Week 5. Even though ASU won 35-20, the Sun Devils offense had its worst game, where quarterback Brock Osweiler turned the ball over four times.

The defense was great once again, though, claiming five turnovers of its own. Arizona State's defense has been solid so far, which is surprising considering all the injuries it has faced thus far.

This is Arizona State's first road game since losing to Illinois in Week 3, so this is a huge test for the Sun Devils to see if they have what it takes to win outside of Sun Devil Stadium.

Utah hasn't been too impressive this season, only having a huge 54-10 win over BYU. The Utes also won against Montana State but were handed losses by USC and Washington. 

Utah's points numbers are inflated from the BYU game, but it still has an effective passing game. This passing game will be in question, though, considering Utah quarterback Jordan Wynn is out for Saturday's game with a shoulder injury he suffered against Washington. He will be replaced with Jon Hays.

Hays will be making his first start of his collegiate career. As one would assume, don't expect the Sun Devils to play nice on defense—the unit has forced nine turnovers in its last two games alone, helping ASU outscore its opponents 22-0 in the fourth quarter.

In last week's game against Washington, Hays came in and threw for 156 yards with a touchdown and an interception. Not terrible for a guy coming off the bench, but Hays doesn't look like a guy who is going to upset the Sun Devils.

Dennis Erickson's defense should be effective once again, especially after holding USC to just 1-of-9 and Oregon State 4-of-15 on third-down attempts. Utah has pretty much disappeared on third down, so don't look for the Sun Devils to lose their edge here.

The Sun Devils offense will be led by juniors Osweiler and Cameron Marshall.

Osweiler has been extremely effective thus far this year, with the exception of Week 5's four-turnover performance. He has thrown 10 touchdowns so far this season, so expect Osweiler to clean up the sloppiness against Utah this week.

Marshall has been productive as of late, too.

Over his last two games, he has five touchdowns and is averaging 110 yards a game. The Sun Devils will need Marshall to keep things going, especially to add another dynamic to their offense. 

One would think Arizona State should have an easy time handling Utah, but after the game against Oregon State, the Sun Devils have to take things seriously and play their hardest and smartest.

If they don't, they could suffer badly against Oregon in Week 7.

Prediction: Sun Devils 27, Utes 13

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