UteZone
Utah Football Keys to Victory: Cincinnati Edition
The No. 6-ranked Utah football team is headed to Ohio to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats. This game has become even more important over the last week as Cincy ended the undefeated season of Texas Tech. Utah will have another tough task at hand, and with this game being on the road, it feels even more important for the Utes to play sound football to avoid the same fate as Tech last week.
The usual keys to victory stand: protect the ball, play a clean game, be sound tacklers.
But here are four other keys for the Utes this week:
Win on 3rd down:
Utah’s offense is currently sitting at 4th in the Big 12 in 3rd down conversions. They have converted 46 of the 87 times they have had 3rd down so far this season, meaning over 50% of the time, Devon Dampier and this offense have reset the chains. On the other side, Cincinnati has the worst 3rd down defense in the league. The Bearcats’ defense is getting off the field only 42% of the time this season.
In a perfect world, the Utes wouldn’t have to deal with 3rd down at all. They would continuously move the chains on first and second down. But that’s not how this sport works. Utah is goin...