Utah Football: 2024 Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total

Utah College Football Preview 2024

There once was a college football conference called the WAC.

Utah grew into a star in the WAC in the late 1990s before becoming a part of the Mountain West in 1999.

Utah grew into a star in the Mountain West - an upwardly mobile Urban Meyer and a young Kyle Whittingham had something to do with that - before becoming a part of the Pac-12 in 2011.

Utah grew into a star in the Pac-12, but it took a little bit.

Over the last ten years the Utes have enjoyed seven top 22 College Football Playoff finishes and would’ve made an expanded 12-team playoff in three of the last five seasons - and one of those outliers was 2020.

Utah won’t grow into a star in the Big 12 - it’s already there. It’s steamrolling in as the big boy on the block.

The Big 12 might have lost Texas and Oklahoma, but it’s a strong overall conference from 1 to 16 - the teams at the bottom will all be dangerous.

Oklahoma State and Kansas State will play the disrespect card when it comes to whose Big 12 this will be, but as long as everyone is healthy - especially at quarterback - this could and should be Utah’s league from jump.

At least that’s what the expectations should be.

Utah is a legitimate top 15 team, if not top ten, and the schedule is about as soft as it gets - more on this in the final section - considering how many opponents are coming off of losing seasons.

As he winds down - the head coaching torch will be passed to Morgan Scalley once the time comes - this is one of Whittingham’s best teams in his 20 years.

The hype is for real because …

Utah Football Preview 2024: Offense

- The Utah offense wasn’t totally horrible considering it didn’t have its stars. Starting QB Cameron Rising wasn’t able to go, star NFL tight end prospect Brant Kuithe was out for the season, and top RB Micah Bernard was out for most of the year.

They’re all back, and the pop should return.

No, the yards and explosion and points weren’t there - you know, offense stuff - like they should’ve been, but this group did its job by leading the nation in time of possession. But now there’s one slight question that really isn’t a problem …

- Can the offensive line refresh fast? It’s Utah, so the line will be fantastic, but two starers back. Michael Mokofisi should be one of the Big 12’s best guards, and Spencer Fano will work one of the tackle spots - the other jobs will be fine in a Next Ute Blaster Up sort of way.

Getting Bernard back is big. The backfield lost leading rusher Ja’Quinden Jackson to Arkansas, but the 1-2 punch of Bernard - who only played in two games last season - and Jaylon Glover should be strong.

- Getting Cam Rising back is everything. He suffered a horrible knee injury and missed all of last year, but he’s back for a fifth season after throwing 46 touchdowns and over 5,500 yards in his previous two seasons. The downfield passing attack that was rocking with Rising and rolled in 2022 should return.

The receiving corps is good, and Kuithe is great. Back after suffering a torn up knee, he should be among the nation’s top tight ends.

Leading wide receiver Devaughn Vele is done, but Money Parks and USC transfer Dorian Singer should shine with Rising back.

Utah Football Preview 2024: Defense

- Defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley might be the head-coach-in-waiting, but he has plenty to do with his day job this season.

Utah was seconding the Pac-12 and 13th in the nation in total defense allowing just 307 yards and 23 points per game, the pass rush was great, the run defense incredible - fourth in the nation - and among the best in the country on third down conversion stops. It will all keep going starting with another wonderful line.

Top end Jonah Elliss is gone, and the pass rush has to emerge, but the other three starters form a brick wall.

Junior Tafuna is one of the nation’s top tackles, Keanu Tanuvasa is great in the interior and Van Fillinger is a big veteran who can hold up against the run on the end. There’s even more bulk behind them.

- As always, the Utah linebacking corps is strong. Karene Reid was second on the team with 67 tackles from his hybrid role, and Lander Barton should be the leading tackler in place of Levani Damuni in the middle of the corps. Sione Fotu should rise up into the role on the strongside after getting in a little work last year.

- The secondary didn’t take the ball away enough with just four of the team’s eight interceptions. It allowed 224 passing yards per game in the Pac-12 with a slew of great quarterbacks, but it was still good.

Zemaiah Vaughn is back at one corner, and Kenan Johnson is a sixth-year veteran coming in from Georgia Tech to work on the other side.

The safeties lost Cole Bishop (Detroit), but it got Alaka’i Gilman from Stanford to fill-in with versatile option Tao Johnson at one job, and Nate Ritchie should be a top tackler in the strong slot.

Key To The Utah Football Season

Bash … Bash … BASH
Even with Cam Rising back to bomb away the Utes have to win by controlling the clock and game on the ground. The O line has to eat.

Two years ago Utah went 6-1 when running for 200 yards or more - the one loss was to Florida when Rising, to be nice, misfired late.

Utah Key Player

Lander Barton, LB Jr.
There’s no worry here about production, but Levani Damuni was terrific. The tackling machine from Stanford rolled up 87 stops last year for Utah in the middle.

Barton made 80 tackles in his first two seasons to go along with two picks last year. Again, no real concerns, but there’s a slight problem if he isn’t pushing 90 tackles.

Utah Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Dorian Singer, WR Sr.
There were some nice gets to fill in the blanks, but Singer should make the biggest impact. He started out at Arizona - catching 84 passes for 1,406 yards and six scores - and last year he made 24 grabs for 289 yards and three touchdowns for USC. Expect him to go back to 2022 form.

Top Transfer Out: Ja’Quinden Jackson, RB Jr.
It should all be fine - Micah Bernard should step in and shine in the Ute backfield - and this stable of backs is deep, but it’s never a plus to lose your leading rusher. Jackson ran for 1,358 yards and 14 touchdowns in his three seasons, and now he’ll be a key part of the Arkansas system.

Utah Key Game

at Oklahoma State, Sept. 21
There might be other dangerous games on the slate - Arizona is coming up next - but this might realistically be it. This road trip is the one time that Utah should be the underdog.

It’ll lose once or twice this season - bad day, relatively even Big 12 - but win this, and there’s really no excuse to not go off and play for the conference championship.

10 Best Utah Football Players

1. Junior Tafuna, DT Sr.
2. Brant Kuithe, TE Sr.
3. Cameron Rising, QB Sr.
4. Zemaiah Vaughn, CB Sr.
5. Jack Bouwmeester, P Sr.
6. Connor O’Toole, DE Sr.
7. Michael Mokofisi, OG Jr.
8. Lander Barton, LB Jr.
9. Dorian Singer, WR Sr.
10. Micah Bernard, RB Sr.

Utah 2023 Fun Stats

- Penalties: Opponents 92 for 694 yards, Utah 65 for 541 yards

- Field Goals: Utah 16-of-20, Opponents 9-of-17

- Fumbles: Opponents 15 (lost 7), Utah, 13 (lost 2)

Utah Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

Get into the new College Football Playoff as the Big 12 champion, Utah.

As long as Cam Rising is back to form, everything is there to step up and shine as the star of the conference.

Realistically, the other top Big 12 teams - even though the conference is solid from the mid-level to the bottom, too - are Arizona, Kansas State, and Oklahoma State.

The date with the former Pac-12 Wildcats is in Salt Lake City, the Utes miss the other Wildcats, and the road showdown with the Cowboys is right out of the gate in Big 12 play.

The other four Big 12 road games - Arizona State, Colorado, Houston, and UCF - are against teams that finished with losing records, and only the Knights made a bowl game.

In all, eight of the 12 games were against teams that finished with a losing record, and that doesn’t count the date with Southern Utah from the FCS.

Not playing Kansas, Texas Tech, and West Virginia is a plus, the date with Baylor is technically a non-conference game, and Southern Utah and Utah State should be wins.

Again, Utah, get it done.

Set The Utah Win Total At … 9.5

Likely Wins: Southern Utah, at Utah State

50/50 Games: Arizona, at Arizona State, Baylor, BYU, at Colorado, at Houston, Iowa State, TCU, at UCF

Likely Losses: No apparent sure-thing losses

2024 Utah Football Schedule

Aug 29 Southern Utah
Sept 7 Baylor
Sept 14 at Utah State
Sept 21 at Oklahoma State
Sept 28 Arizona
Oct 5 OPEN DATE
Oct 11 at Arizona State
Oct 19 TCU
Oct 26 at Houston
Nov 2 OPEN DATE
Nov 9 BYU
Nov 16 at Colorado
Nov 23 Iowa State
Nov 29 at UCF

Missing: Baylor (not a Big 12 game), Cincinnati, Kansas, Kansas State, Texas Tech, West Virginia

Related: College Football Preview 2024: CFN 134 Team Previews, Rankings, Top Players, Win Totals & Schedules