Utah vs. No. 21 Arizona State: How to watch, listen to or stream the game

Utah (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) vs. No. 21 Arizona State (4-1, 2-0 Big 12)

• Kickoff: Saturday, 8:15 p.m. MDT
• Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City)
• TV: ESPN
• Livestream: Watch ESPN
• Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
• Series: Arizona State leads, 23-12. While the Sun Devils have a large advantage in the series overall, Utah has won four of the past five in the rivalry, with the lone loss in that span coming last year in Tempe.
• Weather: Rain with temperatures in the mid-to-high 50s at kickoff, falling to low 50s by end of game.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes, like Arizona State, are coming into the game off of a bye.

Utah rolled past West Virginia 48-14 in its most recent game, and when the Utes have won this season, it’s been a blowout. In their four victories, they have won by an average score of 46.3 to 9.8.

On the other side, Utah was beaten 34-10 by Texas Tech in its only loss. That loss dropped Utah to 0-5 at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Big 12 conference games in its second year in the league and the Utes will be trying to snap that losing streak.

For Arizona State: The Sun Devils, like Utah, are off to a 4-1 start to the season, though their one loss came in nonconference action when Mississippi State rallied in the final minute.

Arizona State, the defending Big 12 champion, hasn’t lost a conference game since Oct. 19 of last year and is 2-0 in league play in the early going of the 2025 season.

That includes a back-and-forth contest at Baylor, followed by a come-from-behind home victory over TCU. Both games ended up with a 27-24 score, with Jesus Gomez hitting a game-winning field goal late.

What to watch for

The biggest storyline surrounding this game came late in the week, when Sun Devils starting quarterback Sam Leavitt was ruled out for the contest, according to multiple reports.

That’s a huge blow for Arizona State headed into a hostile environment. The Sun Devils haven’t won in Salt Lake City since 2017 and have lost three straight at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

In Leavitt’s place will be Jeff Sims, a sixth-year veteran whose previous stops have included time at Georgia Tech and Nebraska. Sims, like Leavitt, is a dual-threat QB, though not having Leavitt’s leadership and acumen on the field will hurt Arizona State.

Sims has plenty of starting experience — he started 23 games for Georgia Tech over three seasons (2020-22), two at Nebraska in 2023 and one last year in relief of Leavitt at ASU — and has thrown for 4,914 yards, 31 touchdowns with 29 interceptions on 57.4% completion in his career, while adding 1,464 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns.

How will he handle a Utah defensive front led by edge rushers John Henry Daley and Logan Fano, as well as linebacker Lander Barton?

Utah has its own set of injuries, though Kyle Whittingham said none of those players hurt in the West Virginia game suffered season-ending injuries.

Still, the Utes’ secondary took a hit — safety Nate Ritchie went down early against the Mountaineers and is out for the ASU game. That is likely to lead to more opportunities for Rock Caldwell and true freshman Nate Tilmon.

Then there’s the impact of the weather. Forecasts are calling for it to rain throughout the contest. Will wet weather cause some sloppiness?

Key players

Utah’s offensive line: It’s strength vs. strength in the trenches when Utah’s rushing attack goes up against ASU’s run defense.

The Utes are No. 9 nationally in rushing offense, averaging 242.6 yards per game, while the Sun Devils are eighth in the country in rushing defense, giving up 78.2 yards per contest on the ground.

Utah’s offensive success has largely been predicated on whether the Utes are able to establish the run behind a veteran offensive line led by tackles Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu, particularly on early downs.

Utah is averaging 5.39 yards per carry on first-down runs this season, good enough for 28th nationally, and that’s helped the Utes get in more manageable third-down situations. As a result, Utah is second in the country in third-down conversion percentage, at 61.1%

In the Utes’ only loss, Texas Tech held Utah to 101 rushing yards, its lowest total of the season, and 4 of 14 on third downs, also a season low.

Arizona State, meanwhile, has been the country’s best at defending first-down runs. The Sun Devils lead the nation by giving up just 1.37 yards per carry on first down.

The Red Raiders are fourth in the nation in that category, giving up 2.65 yards per first-down carry.

Against Texas Tech, Utah had 13 first-down runs that averaged 4.46 yards per carry. That number falls to 3.8 yards per carry on 10 attempts if the three carries on Utah’s final drive — with under two minutes to play after it was a 34-10 game — are taken out of the equation.

As a result, the Utes faced an average of 6.8 yards to go for a first down on 14 third-down attempts against Texas Tech. Only twice was it third-and-2 or shorter, and both times Utah converted with a run.

Will Arizona State be able to limit Utah on first-down runs like Texas Tech did and force the Utes into longer third-down situations?

Quotable

“It’s a tough environment. There’s 50, 60% chance of thunderstorms, rain. We could hit a delay and we have an 8:15 (p.m.) kickoff that could also get delayed. We may be playing this game at 10 p.m., 10:30. I mean, that’s not a far-fetched scenario based off the weather report.

“And it doesn’t matter when we play it or where we play it, we’re going to play a really good football team with a great crowd, and we’ve got to be ready to go play a physical brand of football. We’ve got to be able to do all the little things right.” — Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham

“(We’ve got to) continue to play consistently and finish games. That was our big problem in the (Texas) Tech game a couple weeks back, we didn’t finish very well. We’re in the game all the way to the mid-fourth quarter, and then didn’t do much the rest of the way. That’s something we need to do is play the full 60 minutes.

“If we can continue to win the turnover margin — the one game we lost it in dramatic fashion’s the game we lost. That’s something that we’ve got to do. I think we’re 12th in the conference right now in turnover ratio, which is not good enough. We’re usually up in the top third of the league in that. That’s something that’s got to hopefully change as well. We got to do a better job of that.

“But if you want to win the conference, you’ve got to stand toe to toe with the big boys and come away with wins. That’s the bottom line.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

Next up

• Utah: at No. 18 BYU
• Arizona State: vs. No. 9 Texas Tech

Utah schedule

• Aug. 30 — at UCLA, W 43-10
• Sept. 6 — vs. Cal Poly, W 63-9
• Sept. 13 — at Wyoming, W 31-6
• Sept. 20 — vs. Texas Tech, L 34-10
• Sept. 27 — at West Virginia, W 48-14
• Oct. 11 — vs. Arizona State
• Oct. 18 — at BYU
• Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado
• Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati
• Nov. 15 — at Baylor
• Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State
• Nov. 28 — at Kansas