No. 14 Utah enters the season as a contender to win the Pac-12 Conference.
According to ESPN’s Lee Corso, the Utes could be playing for a much more prestigious title in January: A national championship.
Appraised of this assessment by media after practice on Saturday, Utah coach Kyle Whittingham reacted with a backhanded compliment.
“Well, good for Lee,” he said. “Seems like most of the time when I am watching and he has to choose between us and the opponent, he doesn’t choose us too often. Maybe he has had a change of heart. Thanks Lee, appreciate it.”
Corso’s sleeper pick for the national championship game starts its season Thursday night with a short trip to Provo for their yearly Holy War rivalry with BYU. There are easier ways to start a season than playing your in-state rival, especially when said rival feels it has a score to settle.
Last year, the Cougars controlled most of the first three quarters, leading 20-0 at halftime and 27-7 late in the third quarter. But the Utes roared from behind with 28 unanswered points, including two touchdowns in the final 3:02, for a 35-27 win.
BYU quarterback Zach Wilson, who threw for two touchdowns and rolled up 277 all-purpose yards in that game, said the memory of that defeat has lingered with his team.
“I can see that we need to finish,” he said. “I can tell the momentum shifted, and that’s something we need to keep on our side, especially in the second half.”
Wilson ended last year with as perfect a performance as a quarterback can have. He hit all 18 passes for 317 yards and four scores in the Cougars’ 49-18 rout of Western Michigan at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, enabling them to finish at 7-6.
While perfection is an unrealistic expectation of Wilson, a 6-3, 203-pound sophomore who completed 65.9 percent of his passes in nine games last year, he’ll have to be sharp right out of the gate. BYU’s first four games include two ranked opponents — No. 13 Washington goes to Provo on Sept. 21 — as well as a trip to Tennessee and a home game with USC.
Meanwhile, Utah boasts one of the nation’s top running backs in senior Zack Moss, who is coming off consecutive 1,000-yard seasons. He rolled up 1,096 yards and 11 touchdowns last year in only nine games.
But if the Utes are to improve on a 9-5 record in 2018 and bold predictions such as the College Football Playoff and national championship contention come true, Whittingham wants to see their offensive line come out and send a message right away.
“Probably the offensive line, to see how they come together,” he said when asked what position he’s most curious about this week. “We’ve always prided ourself as being a physical team and they’ve got a big challenge this week.”
