Utah vs Arizona Prediction 09/28/24 College Football Tips

The Arizona Wildcats and Utah Utes meet Saturday night in Week 5 college football at Rice-Eccles Stadium. We will look at this from a betting perspective and identify the best bets for this game. Here’s a Utah vs. Arizona prediction.

Arizona Summary

The Arizona Wildcats come into this game looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season after suffering a 31-7 loss to Kansas State last time out to drop to 2-1 on the year. After this game, Arizona travels home for a matchup with Texas Tech.

Wildcats look to pick up a huge road win

Noah Fifita has thrown for 863 yards, 5 touchdowns and 3 interceptions on a 63.6% passing rate, while Quali Conley has a team-high 250 rushing yards with 4 touchdowns and Jacory Croskey-Merritt also has 106 rushing yards. Tetairoa McMillan leads Arizona’s receiving group with 23 receptions for 453 yards and 4 touchdowns this season. On defense, Jacob Manu has a team-best 27 total tackles. As a unit, Arizona’s defense has totaled 6 sacks and two interceptions so far this season.

Why the Arizona Wildcats will win

• Arizona has won nine of its last ten games.
• Arizona has covered the spread in eight of its last nine games against AP-ranked teams.
• Utah has failed to even out the spread in each of its last four games in September against teams not ranked in the AP.

Utah summary

The Utah Utes come into this game looking to remain undefeated by improving to 4-0 on the year after picking up a 22-19 road win over Oklahoma State last time out. After this game, the Utes will go back on the road to face Arizona State.

Utes tries to hold down the fort at home

Cameron Rising has thrown for 346 yards and 7 touchdowns on a 62.1% pass rate, while Isaac Wilson has thrown for 550 yards, 5 touchdowns and 5 interceptions on a 58.5% pass rate. Micah Bernard has a team-high 456 rushing yards, while Brant Kuithe leads the Utes’ receiving group with 216 receiving yards and 4 touchdowns. Dorian Singer also has a team-high 17 grabs for 204 yards, while Money Parks and Dijon Stanley each have over 150 receiving yards. On defense, Van Filinger has a team-high 20 total tackles and 5.5 sacks, while Tao Johnson has a team-high 14 solo tackles as part of his 20 total tackles. Connor O’Toole also has 2.5 sacks, while Utah’s defense has totaled 12 sacks and 5 interceptions.

Why the Utah Utes will win

• Utah has won each of its last 31 games against non-AP ranked teams at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
• Arizona has lost each of its last nine games in September against AP-ranked teams.
• The favorite has covered the spread in six of the last seven games between Arizona and Utah.
• Arizona has failed to cover the spread in each of its last three games.

Utah vs Arizona prediction

I’m here in Utah. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about the Utes over the past few seasons, it’s that Rice-Eccles offenses are dying. Rice-Eccles is a fortress and Utah has made it one of the toughest road environments in the country to drive and compete on, let alone win. We haven’t seen Arizona truly shut down anyone who still has their finger on the pulse this season, and their first big test ended in a tough loss to Kansas State. I think Utah’s defense comes out on top at home and pulls out a big win here on home soil. Give me the Utes for the cover.