Utah (4-2, 1-2) vs. TCU (3-3, 1-2)

• Kick-off: Saturday, 8:30 PM MDT
• Location: Rice-Eccles Stadium
• TV: ESPN
• Live stream: espn.com/watch
• Radio: ESPN 700 AM/92.1 FM
• Series: Utah leads 5-3
• Weather: Clear with temperatures in the low 50s at kickoff, dropping to the mid 40s by the end of the game.

The trends

For Utah: The Utes have lost two games in a row, losing 23-10 to Arizona in Salt Lake City before losing 27-19 to Arizona State last week in Tempe.

For TCU: The Horned Frogs have lost three of their last four games, losing 66-42 at rival SMU and then beating Kansas 38-27 before losing 30-19 to Big 12 bottom-dweller Houston last week. The Cougars came into the game having scored zero points in their previous two games, but broke that streak against TCU.

What to pay attention to

This week, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham announced that starting quarterback Cam Rising, who suffered a leg injury early in his return against Arizona State, is out for the season.

That means true freshman Isaac Wilson will be the Utes’ starter for the rest of the season.

It’s not an overseas position for Wilson, who has started three games in Rising’s absence this year, but this upcoming start feels different. No more dueling game plans in practice in case Rising can play, no more looking over his shoulder to see if Rising comes back this week.

Utah is finally putting together a game plan specifically for Wilson, and the team has rallied behind him this week.

Wilson has had his problems – too many interceptions (seven on the year) and not enough red-zone trips converted into touchdowns – and will still make mistakes as a freshman, but he has shown flashes of potential and generally handles the ball well moved between the 1920s.

If the Utes can convert in the red zone this week, things are looking good.

It will be interesting to see how Wilson performs with a week’s game plan tailored to his strengths. He has shown a tendency to run, and TCU has struggled to contain rushing quarterbacks. Could we see more designed quarterback runs in Utah’s playbook this week?

Key player

Josh Hoover, TCU quarterback: Without a reliable rushing game, Hoover has been tasked with producing the majority of TCU’s offensive yards, and he has succeeded.

TCU coach Sonny Dykes has always favored the passing game, and he has a good quarterback under center to run his offense. Hoover has thrown for 2,007 yards and 16 touchdowns with 69% accuracy, with his favorite target being wide receiver Jack Bech, who has hauled in 39 receptions for seven scores and 702 yards.

TCU isn’t hurting for other weapons either, with three other receivers over 300 yards on the season. All of that has added up to the nation’s fifth-best passing offense, averaging 342.8 yards and 35.3 points per game.

The weakness of the attack is that it turns the ball over too much. The Horned Frogs have given the ball away 14 times this season: Hoover has thrown six interceptions and TCU has fumbled the ball eight times.

The Utes will have their hands full with one of the best quarterbacks they have faced this year.

Quotable

“What’s really impressive to me is their conversion drop. Nearly 50% on third down, nearly 75% on fourth down, and in the red zone they are over 80% touchdown efficient. So offensively they are doing very good things and it is very difficult to stop them.” – Utah coach Kyle Whittingham

“I think the fact that he has all week to prepare that there’s some clarity at that position probably helps them just because I suspect there’s been split reps and things like that while Cam trying to get healthy. I don’t know how much different it will be for us from a preparation perspective, but it will be a little bit.” – TCU coach Sonny Dykes

Next

• Utah: near Houston
• TCU: vs. Texas Tech

Utah schedule

• August 29: Utah 49, Southern Utah 0
• September 7: Utah 23, Baylor 12
• September 14: Utah 38, Utah State 21
• September 21: Utah 22, Oklahoma State 19
• September 28: Arizona 23, Utah 10.
• October 5: Goodbye
• October 11: Arizona State 27, Utah 19.
• Oct. 19: TCU (8:30 p.m., ESPN)
• October 26: in Houston
• November 2: Goodbye
• Nov. 9: BYU
• November 16: in Colorado
• November 23: Iowa State
• Nov. 29: at UCF (6 p.m., Fox)

All times Mountain time zone.