No. 12 Utah (8-2, 5-2) vs. Kansas State (5-5, 4-3)
- Kickoff: Saturday, 2 p.m. MST
- Venue: Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City)
- TV: ESPN2
- Livestream: Watch ESPN
- Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
- Series: First meeting.
- Weather: Sunny with temperatures in the low 50s at kickoff, falling to the high 40s by end of game.
The trends
For Utah: The Utes have won three straight and five of their past six games, and their average margin of victory in eight wins this year, at 35.3 points, leads the country. Utah has scored 42 or more points in every one of their five conference wins thus far.
If ESPN’s analytic model is any indicator, those numbers ought to keep happening as Utah finishes the year with the home game against Kansas State and a road matchup at Kansas. The Utes have a greater than 80% chance of winning in both games, according to ESPN’s analytics.
For Kansas State: The Wildcats have won three of their last four games to get them within one victory of bowl eligibility, a feat considering Kansas State started the year off 1-3.
Still, the Wildcats come into Saturday off one of their most uninspiring contests. Kansas State beat Oklahoma State 14-6 last week — it was a surprise the game was that close, and the Wildcats only turned five takeaways into two scores.
What to watch for
The Utes have beat up most opponents in the rushing game, and this looks like a matchup where Utah will do that again.
Kansas State is allowing 152.2 rushing yards per game this season, which ranks in the bottom half of the Big 12.
The Utes, meanwhile, are averaging a league-leading 278.4 yards on the ground.
Utah sets the tone in the rushing game and in the trenches, and the pieces are in place to have that happen again against the Wildcats.
Yes, Kansas State has some talented pieces, like quarterback Avery Johnson, and had high expectations entering the year, but the Utes are rolling and this will be a tough matchup for visiting Kansas State.
Plus, there’s the question: Will this be the final home game at Rice-Eccles Stadium for longtime coach Kyle Whittingham? His retirement has been a storyline at the end of seasons for years, and there’s no clear answer when he’ll hang it up.
Until then, the postulating goes on.
Utah quarterback Byrd Ficklin runs a play against Baylor during game Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025, in Waco, Texas. | Julio Cortez, Associated Press
Key player
Byrd Ficklin, QB/OW (offensive weapon): It almost feels like it does a disservice to merely refer to him as the backup quarterback.
Ficklin has largely shined when given chances to earn snaps, and that was especially on display last week in Utah’s 55-28 win over Baylor.
His 67- and 74-yard touchdown runs both came at times when the Bears had closed within one score of Utah and helped provide the Utes some breathing room, which helped Utah put Baylor away.
Ficklin ran for 166 yards on just six carries last week, and he also completed 2 of 3 passes for 23 yards, including a 14-yarder that set up another touchdown.
Jason Beck continues to find ways to get Ficklin involved, and with Devon Dampier dealing with some lingering injury issues, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Ficklin play a prominent role in another contest.
Quotable
“We’ve got to turn the page fast, because we’ve got a really good opponent at their place. We watched the film yesterday morning and then flipped it quickly. This is going to be a really difficult environment and a really good team (in Utah). …
“They’re running the football at will against people, and a lot of different guys (are) carrying the football — quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers. They keep you off balance.” — Kansas State coach Chris Klieman
“Coming up this week, Kansas State, back home. Final home game of the year. Senior Day, so we get to recognize our seniors. It’s a good kickoff time, 2 o’clock, we like that. On a little bit of a roll here, we got some momentum going into this game and got to try to hang on to that.
“It all starts with a great week of preparation. It starts today with that. We’re in pretty good health. We’ll find out as the week goes on with some guys that might be a little questionable, but for where we are in the big picture, health-wise, got no complaints at this time of the year.” — Utah coach Kyle Whittingham
Next up
- Utah: at Kansas
- Kansas State: vs. Colorado
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, W 42-10
- Oct. 18 — at BYU, L 24-21
- Oct. 25 — vs. Colorado, W 53-7
- Nov. 1 — vs. Cincinnati, W 45-14
- Nov. 15 — at Baylor, W 55-28
- Nov. 22 — vs. Kansas State
- Nov. 28 — at Kansas
