PLAYERS TO WATCH
–QB Jason Shelley, a freshman making his first college start in place of the injured Tyler Huntley, threw for 262 yards (18-of-31 with no touchdowns or interceptions) against Oregon last week. He also had 22 yards rushing with two rushing touchdowns, the first scores of his career.
–LB Chase Hansen had 13 tackles against the Ducks, his fourth double-figure tackle game of the season and sixth of his career. His 3.5 tackles for loss (one sack) was a career high, bringing his season total to 19, which is the fourth-most in a season at Utah.
–RB Armand Shyne led Utah in rushing with a career-high 174 yards on 26 carries against Oregon, his second career (first this season) 100-yard rushing game. He had 101 vs. Arizona two years ago. He had two rushes more than 40 yards, including a career-long 42-yard rush in the first quarter for a career long and the third-longest rush on the team this year.
–PK Matt Gay set a school record for field goals made in a game with a 6-for-6 performance against Oregon, passing the previous record of five, set by Joe Phillips vs. BYU in 2009. He also tied Phillips for the school record for points in a game by a kicker with 20. It was the second time this season he has made at least four field goals in a game (4-for-4 vs. Stanford) and the fourth time in his career. Gay had a season-long 55-yard field goal, his sixth career 50-plus-yard field goal (first this season), which increases his school record in the category. Gay has made 18 straight field goals, tying Phillips for the school record.
SERIES HISTORY: Utah is 29-32-3 in its series with Colorado that dates to 1903. The Utes are 5-2 against the Buffaloes since the teams joined the Pac-12 in 2011. That includes a 2-1 record in Boulder, Colo., with all three of those games decided by a touchdown or less.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “(Jason Shelley) is a confident kid and a tremendous athlete. If you are first team all-state in Texas for basketball, baseball and football, at least he said he did, you have one heck of an athlete. (Offensive coordinator) Troy Taylor did a nice job preparing him and he did a nice job as well in terms of film preparation, as all our quarterbacks do. It was just one game, but he rose to the occasion tonight.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham, on his freshman quarterback’s first career start (in which he passed for 262 yards) in the Utes’ 35-28 win over visiting Oregon last week.
