Utah had a nice 10-4 season in 2022 that began with a loss in the Swamp to a below average (6-7) Florida Gator team and peaked with a win over USC (for the 2nd time during the season....never an easy task) in the Pac ship.
From that impressive offense (as always one of the top....#2...rushing offenses in the Pac) they lost 3 players to the NFL draft that are competing at the combine this week including RB Tavion Thomas, LT Braeden Daniels and TE Dalton Kincaid . Overall they return 6 of their 11 offensive starters including QB Cam Rising who had knee surgery after the Rose Bowl and TE Brant Kuithe who also had surgery but when healthy is an All-Pac player. They lost their top 2 RBs but they return 4 of their starting OL which simply = next man up at RB. They return their top 2 WRs but that is never a NFL launching pad from Utah. They were 5th in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense in the Pac in 2022 and if Rising is fully healthy (a big IF), they should return to that range.
On D they were 2nd in the Pac in both Total D and Scoring D. They lost their 2nd/4th/9th leading tacklers ( S-RJ Hubert/ ILB-Mohamoud Diabate/DE Gabe Reid) and their All-Pac CB Clark Phillips (and got a Ro Torrence sized CB transfer from Ole Miss to replace him)...........but they return 7 starters and should be one of the best defenses in the Pac once again.
Special Teams--they return the Pac's worst punter and their 2 FG kickers combined to be at the bottom of the Pac as well
No true flashy portal additions (other than sure OLB starter and Stanford's 2022 leading tackler Levani Demuni) but you can bet that they will be good system fits.............and as always, those returning from their mission are a very important factor in their 2-deep
In 2023 they get Florida at home for revenge and then Baylor(who lost half of their starters from a 6-7 team) on the road for one of the toughest OOC schedules in the Pac (along with Webber State).
Home Pac games vs UCLA/Cal/Oregon/ASU/Colorado
Road Pac games vs Oregon State/USC/Udub/u4
If Rising is fully healthy, it is easy to see an 8 win regular season and possibly more, but it won't be easy as they get both Oregon and Udub in the north while missing Stanford and Wazzu
From that impressive offense (as always one of the top....#2...rushing offenses in the Pac) they lost 3 players to the NFL draft that are competing at the combine this week including RB Tavion Thomas, LT Braeden Daniels and TE Dalton Kincaid . Overall they return 6 of their 11 offensive starters including QB Cam Rising who had knee surgery after the Rose Bowl and TE Brant Kuithe who also had surgery but when healthy is an All-Pac player. They lost their top 2 RBs but they return 4 of their starting OL which simply = next man up at RB. They return their top 2 WRs but that is never a NFL launching pad from Utah. They were 5th in both Total Offense and Scoring Offense in the Pac in 2022 and if Rising is fully healthy (a big IF), they should return to that range.
On D they were 2nd in the Pac in both Total D and Scoring D. They lost their 2nd/4th/9th leading tacklers ( S-RJ Hubert/ ILB-Mohamoud Diabate/DE Gabe Reid) and their All-Pac CB Clark Phillips (and got a Ro Torrence sized CB transfer from Ole Miss to replace him)...........but they return 7 starters and should be one of the best defenses in the Pac once again.
Special Teams--they return the Pac's worst punter and their 2 FG kickers combined to be at the bottom of the Pac as well
No true flashy portal additions (other than sure OLB starter and Stanford's 2022 leading tackler Levani Demuni) but you can bet that they will be good system fits.............and as always, those returning from their mission are a very important factor in their 2-deep
In 2023 they get Florida at home for revenge and then Baylor(who lost half of their starters from a 6-7 team) on the road for one of the toughest OOC schedules in the Pac (along with Webber State).
Home Pac games vs UCLA/Cal/Oregon/ASU/Colorado
Road Pac games vs Oregon State/USC/Udub/u4
If Rising is fully healthy, it is easy to see an 8 win regular season and possibly more, but it won't be easy as they get both Oregon and Udub in the north while missing Stanford and Wazzu
Last edited:
