SALT LAKE CITY-Saturday, No. 13 (in the AP poll)/No. 15 (in the coaches poll) Utah hosts Northern Illinois for an 11:00 am kickoff at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
Since what was once known as Rice Stadium became Rice-Eccles Stadium in 1998, the Utes are 91-35 at home (.722) all-time.
The Utes have not lost a home opener since 2007, when they fell 20-12 to Air Force. Currently, this is head coach Kyle Whittingham’s only loss in a home opener at the helm of the program, as he is 12-1 in such games.
Should the Utes prevail against the Huskies of the Mid-American Conference Saturday, they would improve to 2-0 for the seventh consecutive year.
Utah athletics reminds all Utes fans attending Saturday’s game to wear red. Currently, the Utes have had 57 consecutive sellouts, dating back to the 2010 season opener, when they hosted Pittsburgh and prevailed 27-24 over the Panthers.
By virtue of intercepting BYU quarterback Zach Wilson twice and returning each of those thefts for scores in a 30-12 win over the rival Cougars August 29, the Utes are tied with Nebraska for the most defensive touchdowns in the nation with two.
The Utes are only meeting Northern Illinois for the second time in school history. Last year, Utah defeated the Huskies 17-6 at DeKalb, Ill.
In their Pac-12 history, the Utes are 24-1 in regular season non-conference games since joining the conference. The only such loss came at the hands of Utah State at Logan, Utah in 2012.
The Utes are tied with several other teams with the 67th best scoring offense in the country by scoring 30 points against BYU. They are 30th in scoring defense, again tied with several other teams throughout the nation, by surrendering only 12 points to the Cougars.
The Huskies come into this game at 1-0 as they bested FCS foe Illinois State 24-10 August 31.
Northern Illinois’ scoring offense is currently tied for 82nd nationally with various other teams and the defense is tied for 25th nationally by surrendering only 10 points to the Redbirds.
Senior quarterback Tyler Huntley was efficient for the Utes in the win at BYU, completing 81.2 percent of his passes (13-16) for 106 yards.
The bell-cow for the Utah offense is senior tailback Zack Moss who ran for 187 yards on 29 carries (6.4 yards per carry) and a score.
The Utes’ leading receiver is senior receiver Demari Simpkins through one game as he hauled in four passes for 35 yards in the rout.
Defensively against the Cougars, the Utes had numerous stars. Chief among them were senior linebacker Francis Bernard and senior defensive back Julian Blackmon, each of whom returned interceptions for scores.
Additionally, sophomore defensive end Mika Tafua had a sack and recovered a fumble and senior defensive tackle Leki Fotu had two tackles for a loss to pace a stout Utah defense.
For the Huskies, senior signal-caller Ross Bowers completed 20 of 33 passes (60.6 percent) for 299 yards, two touchdowns and an interception against the Redbirds.
Redshirt junior tailback Tre Harbison led Northern Illinois against Illinois State with 23 carries for 99 yards.
The leading receiver for the Huskies through Week 1 is junior receiver Tyrice Ritchie who had three grabs for 102 yards and a pair of scores in the win over the Redbirds.
Northern Illinois’s defensive stars against Illinois State included redshirt sophomore Jalen McKie who had an interception and redshirt senior Quintin Wynne, who contributed a sack.
