Utah coach respects Arkansas' defense

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Utah coach Morgan Scalley talked about the Utes' upcoming matchup with Arkansas this Saturday night. The Deseret News gathered some quotes and offered some more context:

"You definitely want to show well for the conference. Just the challenge of playing top-quality teams — regardless of where they’re coming from, you want to be able to show your best stuff,” Scalley said. "Arkansas has a long history of great football, so we’re excited to host and, yes, we want to represent the Big 12. We want to represent the state of Utah the right way, and our boys are getting ready for that.”

The article continued:

"Utah had an easy 66-14 win over FCS opponent Idaho to open the season, but Arkansas — picked to finish last in the SEC — didn’t fare as well in its opening win over FCS North Alabama. Though the Razorbacks won 31-14 and gained 415 yards, Arkansas coach Ryan Silverfield called it 'one of the worst offensive performances that I’ve been a part of.'

"Arkansas’ defense had a good showing, holding the Lions to 153 yards of total offense and only 40 yards of rushing. At halftime, North Alabama had just 18 yards of offense. Arkansas finished with two sacks, five tackles for loss and a recovered fumble. The Hogs’ defensive line will provide the Utes’ new-look offensive line with its first big test of the season.

“'You watch that team and they’re big, big up front. So that’s, again, going to be the challenge is that battle up front, both on the offense and defensive sides. They’ve got a very twitchy athletic edge rusher in (Steven Soles Jr.), who is a transfer from Kentucky. They’re more of an odd front with (defensive coordinator) Ron Roberts coming from Florida,' Scalley said.

"Utah was missing projected offensive line starter Keith Olson and projected rotation player Isaiah Garcia to begin the season, starting Zereoue Williams, Solatoa Moea’i, Alex Harrison, Roger Alderman and Cedric Jefferson. For the most part, the group was solid, but — as expected — took a little bit to get going.

“'I felt as the game went on, they played much more cohesive … Didn’t give up a sack, proud of the way our offensive line (played). We had a good rotation there at the guard spot. I thought guys got quality reps, and so we’ll settle in on a starting five this week that hopefully can last us throughout the game,' Scalley said."

It seems pretty clear that the first matchup Arkansas has to win is its defensive line against the Utah offensive line. UA has no chance if it loses this specific battle within the larger game. The defense has to keep the game close and create a situation in which the offense doesn't have to do too much.

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