At this point, there's really only one team that is going to edge ASU at the quarterback position, and it's not even on the Sun Devils' schedule. That's Marcus Mariota and Oregon. Travis Wilson brings a solid dual-threat skill set to the table, but at best, he's Taylor Kelly-lite. He's been injured this season and missed some time, but Wilson has performed well in the time he's played and looked vastly improved over seasons past, in which describing the junior quarterback as "turnover prone" would have been an understatement.
Although Utah doesn't have the depth the Sun Devils have in the backfield, its one feature back is as good or arguably better than D.J. Foster. In his first year out of junior college, Devontae Booker has taken the Pac-12 by storm. The junior running back is averaging 5.8 yards per carry, has scored eight touchdowns and almost eclipsed 1,000 yards already. With Wilson hurt for part of the season, and his general unreliability to start with, Booker has become a large part of the Utah offense. He's even used in the passing game, similar to Foster, catching 11 passes for just less than 100 yards.
This comes with an asterisk, because these groups are very close, even with Dres Anderson out for the year. Before Anderson's knee injury, this would have been at least a tie, if not swung in Utah's favor. But after losing one of the best receivers in the Pac-12, Utah can't compete with the Jaelen Strong show. Seven games into the season, it's pretty clear nobody is going to become a true second option to Strong. Someone between Cam Smith, D.J. Foster, Gary Chambers, Fred Gammage, or Ellis Jefferson will end up with the second most receptions and/or receiving yards, but it won't come close to Strong. If Strong went down, like Anderson did, the Sun Devils would be hard-pressed to find a fill-in. The Utes, however, have strong depth at receiver and should be able to replace him. Only four Sun Devils have double-digit receptions, while six Utes do, despite throwing the ball more than 50 fewer times. Players to watch out for are Kenneth Scott and Kaelin Clay, with Clay also bringing elite kick and punt return abilities.
Pre-Christian Westerman injury, the Sun Devils take this one handily. With Stephon McCray stepping in at left guard, ASU takes a bit of a hit but not too much to overcome. This is the first time in two seasons, however, that the Sun Devil offensive line has taken an injury hit, so keep an eye out for how it responds. It may be hard to judge, though, as it will have its hands full with the Utah pass rush. Both teams rank in the bottom third in the nation in sacks and tackles for loss allowed, though ASU has a narrow edge.
Last week, ASU faced the team with the second-most sacks per game in the nation. On Saturday, it will face the team leading the nation in sacks and second in tackles for loss, averaging five and 9.4, respectively. It clearly fazed the Sun Devils against Washington, despite the offense finding some limited success (more than the Huskies, at least). This week, they don't have the luxury of facing an already inept offense in the wind and rain. Despite being down a man, the ASU offensive line can't allow as many men to get into the backfield as it did against the Huskies.
Behind the play of Laiu Moeakiola, this ASU linebacking corps is outplaying expectations and improving week-by-week. The Sun Devils now have Antonio Longino at Will, and he's playing far better than he was earlier in the season at Devil. The Utes, on the other hand, have been good all season. The linebackers aren't quite to the caliber of its defensive line, but they round out a scary front-seven that can make the case for being the best in the conference. Jared Norris, who leads the team in tackles by a wide margin, is flanked by Paul Gioni in a two-man linebacker crew. The Utes typically play with five defensive linemen.
The season stats say give it to Utah. But the play of this unit for the Sun Devils has been vastly improved since the beginning of the season and can be considered on Utah's level. ASU has struggled to get interceptions all season, with only two going into Washington, when Jordan Simone caught a pass thrown right at him and Armand Perry got the game-sealing pick. The unit has also played better aside from turnovers. Against Stanford, Kweishi Brown had five pass breakups, and the rest of the secondary forced 
For the third consecutive week, the Sun Devils face an explosive return man. Two weeks ago, it was Ty Montgomery. Last week, it was John Ross. This week, it's Kaelin Clay. As mentioned above, Clay has been one of the best returners in the nation this season. He has three punts returned for touchdowns and one kickoff. To add on, the Utes also have the highest net punt yards in the nation, averaging 44.11.
The result of the EDGE was even, with each team claiming two positions. I'm giving ASU the overall EDGE, though, because of how well it has played recently. Don't knock Utah — the Utes could have been favored earlier in the season. But the Sun Devils have been a different team the last two weeks. And that team has the EDGE over Utah.
Reach the reporter at ewebeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @EvanWebeck
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