Utah Utes, Weber football gameday

Weber State (3-1) at No. 17 Utah (4-0)

Mostly sunny today. High near 80 at game time, dropping to 60s.

Today, 6 p.m. — Rice-Eccles Stadium (45,017) — FieldTurf — Salt Lake City

TV: none— Radio: 700AM

PLAYER TO WATCH

CAMERON HIGGINS, QB: Sophomore quarterback Cameron Higgins is the reigning Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week. He has a pass-efficiency rating of 176.49.

KEY MATCHUP

Utah's secondary vs. Higgins: The Weber State passer has already thrown for 1,232 yards and 12 touchdown this season. The Utes top the Mountain West Conference in passing defense.

INJURY REPORT

Running back Darrell Mack (turf toe), right guard Robert Conley (knee) and defensive end Koa Misi (ankle) will be game-time decisions.

THE STAKES

For Utah ... A homecoming win and securing what is supposed to be a lopsided victory. The Utes are 30-0 all-time against current Big Sky teams, including a 2-0 mark against the Wildcats.

For Weber State ... The Wildcats would love to make former Utah coach Ron McBride's homecoming at Rice-Eccles Stadium a success. McBride is 18-19 at the helm of Weber State.

THE TRENDS

For Utah ... Utah is riding a five-game winning streak dating back to last December's Poinsettia Bowl triumph.

For Weber State ... Weber State hasn't beaten a higher classification team since defeating Nevada, 47-30, in 1993.

THE EDGE

Utah will win if ... the Utes don't take the game too lightly or look ahead to next Thursday's game against Oregon State. Utah should have little trouble overpowering the Wildcats.

Weber will win if ... the Wildcats can pay off the officials. Just kidding. Weber State played well in the first half at Hawaii a few weeks back, but Utah is a much better team.

SCHEDULE

Date ... Opponent ... Time (TV)

Aug. 30 ... at Michigan ... W, 25-23

Sept. 6 ... UNLV ... W, 41-21

Sept. 13 ... at Utah St. ... W, 58-10

Sept. 20 ... at Air Force ... W, 30-23

Sept. 27 ... Weber St. ... 6 p.m. (None)

Oct. 2 ... Oregon St. ... 7 p.m. (VS)

Oct. 11 ... at Wyoming ... 12 p.m. (MTN)

Oct. 18 ... Colorado St. ... 12 p.m. (MTN)

Nov. 1 ... at New Mexico ... 7:30 p.m. (MTN)

Nov. 8 ... TCU ... 6 p.m. (CBSC)

Nov. 15 ... at San Diego St. ... 5 p.m. (MTN)

Nov. 22 ... BYU ... 4 p.m. (MTN)

All times Mountain

NEXT UP

vs. Oregon State, Thursday, 7 p.m., at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

Nationally televised battle with the Beavers, who defeated top-ranked USC on Thursday night and beat the Utes last year.