2018 Recap: It was a good year in Salt Lake City for Kyle Whittingham and his Utah Utes. They finished their regular season with a 9-3 record overall and a 6-3 record in conference play. They won their first division title and played in their first conference title game since joining the Pac-12 in 2011. The Utes fell short in the conference title game to the Washington Huskies and ended their season in the Holiday Bowl against Northwestern where they fell short. How can this team build off what they accomplished last season?
Key Losses: OT Jackson Barton, LB Cody Barton, S Marquise Blair.
2019 Outlook: When I look at this division of the Pac-12, there’s no other team that stands out to me. Maybe Arizona State with Herm Edwards, but that’s about it. USC is a big question mark as is UCLA, Colorado struggles and Arizona is hit or miss. I think the Utah Utes win this division once again for the second year in a row. Dynamic quarterback Tyler Huntley is back along with a group of receivers that will be returning seven guys that caught at least 15 passes. Running back Zack Moss returns after being sidelined last season with a knee injury. If he comes back 100 percent, Utah will rank amongst the best in rushing offense in the conference. Utah’s defense held opponents to 19 points a game, led the conference in rush defense and limited teams to 4.6 yards a play. Although they lost four of their top tacklers from last season, I don’t expect much of a decline in production from this unit.
