Utes’ goal for 2022 season? Dominate
Coming off their first Pac-12 championship and first trip to the Rose Bowl, expectations are high for Utah heading into new season
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August is winding down, and Camp Kyle has concluded.
That means that the start of Utah’s much-anticipated football season is a little more than a week away, as the No. 7 Utes visit Florida on Sept. 3.
After months of preseason rankings, projections and predictions, it’s time to settle things on the field.
Expectations are sky-high for Utah, which is the defending Pac-12 champion and is picked to repeat. The Utes are ranked No. 7 in the preseason Associated Press Top 25 poll and No. 8 in the coaches poll. They are viewed as a possible College Football Playoff contender.
According to the latest bowl game projections, Utah is returning to the Rose Bowl, with a matchup against Michigan in the “Grandaddy of Them All.” ESPN’s Kyle Bonagura, ESPN’s Mark Schlabach, Action Network’s Brett McMurphy, CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm and 247 Sports’ Brad Crawford are all predicting a Utah-Michigan game in Pasadena on New Year’s Day.
Bonugura and Schlabach said they considered Utah for the final spot in the College Football Playoff, but gave the edge to Clemson.
“Utah and Oklahoma received strong consideration for the final spot, but ultimately Dabo Swinney’s track record over the past decade was the justification for putting the Tigers in,” Bonagura wrote.
When asked what the program’s goal is for this season, cornerback Clark Phillips III said, “Dominate. I have some goals that I look at every single morning. I won’t go into detail but I’d say for us as a team I just want to dominate. I want to win every single game. We don’t have a particular game circled other than Game 1. We want to win the (Pac-12) championship again and we want to be in the playoff. That’s me being candid.”
In case you missed it
Deseret News columnist Doug Robinson takes a look at coach Kyle Whittingham’s career at Utah — and how it all got started, when he was hired by coach Ron McBride in 1994.
“It’s been so much fun to see what Kyle has done,” McBride said of Whittingham. “He’s done a really good job. He’s organized. He has a plan. He knows where he’s going. He’s a very intelligent football coach. He’s all business. Very serious. There’s no flash to him. He just works, and he’s gotten good people to work for him.”
Numbers game
12: Where Utah ranks in the ESPN SP+ rankings.
9: Where the SP+ metric ranks Utah’s offense nationally.
38: Where the SP+ metric ranks Utah’s defense nationally.