No. 17 Utah at No. 14 Arizona State (-6) 11 pm Fox Sports 1
Daniel: After a fairly inexplicable beat down at the hands of UCLA at the end of September, the Sun Devils have reeled off three impressive wins over USC, Stanford and Washington. Quarterback Taylor Kelly is healthy again and the Sun Devils still have a shot to win the Pac 12. The cardiac Utes are 6-1, but their last four games have been decided by a total of 12 points. This will be another close one with the Sun Devils snapping Utah’s three-game winning streak. Winner: ASU 31-28
Houston: I really like what both of these teams did last week. Utah took care of business against Southern Cal and Arizona State went into Seattle and got an impressive 24-10 win over an improving Washington team. I think this could actually prove to be one of the more exciting games of the weekend that isn’t getting the attention it deserves. Arizona State looks to be getting healthy at the right time, and the game IS in Tempe, so I’ll take Arizona State in a shootout. Winner: Sun Devils 37-31
Reed: I’ve picked Utah as an upset special twice and they’re 2-0 in those games. I can’t go against them here. They’re in for a big test this weekend, though. They’ve been the second most efficient defense in the Pac-12 (behind Stanford) and will have to slow down Arizona State’s explosive passing attack. Utah’s balanced offense (1401 yards rushing and 1345 yards passing) will score enough points on ASU’s middle of the road defense and the Ute defense will get a couple big stops late to earn yet another upset W. Winner: Utes 38-30
Brad: Not only does Travis Wilson have an awesome head of hair that would fit right in amid the mountains of East Tennessee, he engineered an 11-play, 73-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Kaelin Clay with eight seconds left to beat USC 24-21 last week. Any time the Trojans go down, the maestro is a hero in my book. Now, the Utes (what’s a Ute?) head to Tempe to take on the Sun Devils in a game that has huge South Division ramifications. ASU has handled Utah 10 consecutive times, but that’s going to come to an end Saturday. The Taylor Kelly/Mike Bercovici decision for Todd Graham is about to reach quarterback controversy status. The Utes are going to be in the Pac-12 Championship Game, and this is the next step. Winner: Utah 30-21
