2011 Utah Utes Football Preview

A new era brings uncertainty, but it also holds the promise of great riches and increased prestige. Such is the brave new world that will greet one of the Pac-12 Conference’s two new members.

It has been an offseason to remember for the boys from Salt Lake City. The proud owners of two BCS bowl victories in the past seven years, the University of Utah Utes were officially invited to the new Pacific-12 Conference along with Big 12 refugee Colorado. The Utes are leaving behind their successes in the Mountain West Conference for a new challenge in the land of BCS automatic qualifiers.  If pedigree is the question, the Utes should do just fine in their new digs. The schedule makers have also given Utah a blessing. The Utes do not face either Oregon or Stanford during the regular season, a partial consequence of landing in a Pac-12 South Division with the Los Angeles schools, the Arizona schools, and Colorado. That being said, this will be the toughest schedule Utah has ever faced, a lineup of opponents that’s far more consistently daunting than anything seen in a top-heavy Mountain West. Utah has become accustomed to ferocious battles against BYU and TCU with an occasional scrap against the Air Force Academy, but now the conference season will challenge the Utes at a higher level. Back-to-back road contests in September against USC and rival BYU (in what will now become a non-conference game) will give Utah a difficult test early on. The Utes get Arizona State and Washington at home, two distinct breathers on the slate.

For all of the talent on campus up on “The Hill,” the Utes have some definite question marks on the defensive side of the football. Can the Utah secondary, which struggled mightily against top quarterbacks last season, rebound and find the depth necessary to compete on a bigger stage? Spring ball showed that there was indeed a bevy of talent in the defensive backfield; coach Kyle Whittingham and defensive coordinator Kalani Sitake are now looking to find the right playmakers. As mentioned before, history is on the side of the Utes. They should be in good shape on defense.

On the offensive side of the ball, quarterback Jordan Wynn returns after a disappointing sophomore season. Wynn will receive the tutelage of storied offensive coordinator Norm Chow, who was hired away from UCLA during the offseason in one of the biggest coaching moves involving an assistant. Chow is implementing a more West Coast-style offense in Salt Lake. During spring ball, the offense struggled mightily. Utah fans are hoping that with summer conditioning still ahead, the offense will find its groove. Chow, now that he no longer has to run the pistol offense for Rick Neuheisel at UCLA, should be able to get more out of Wynn. Moreover, the fact that USC is ineligible for the Pac-12 South championship means that Utah is the clear favorite in that division. As long as Utah wins the South and reaches the first Pac-12 Championship Game, this season should be viewed a success.

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