Preseason Preview: Utah

The Utes may be the only Pac-12 South program yet to win the division, but averaging over nine wins in the last three years clearly puts them as a force to be reckon with in the conference. Having said that, with several keys player losses Utah could be hard pressed to repeat that accomplishment I 2017. Our Joe Healey examines the Utes, one the most challenging road games awaiting the Sun Devils this season.

Head Coach: Kyle Whittingham (13th year, 104-50 overall)

One of the most underrated though highly accomplished FBS football coaches over the past decade, Kyle Whittingham has guided Utah to excellence and ultimately a promotion to a larger conference during his days in Salt Lake City.

Initially hired to the Utah staff in 1994 under then head coach Ron McBride as a defensive assistant coach, Whittingham remained with McBride for the duration of his tenure as well as the spectacular two-year stint of Urban Meyer before being named head coach to follow Meyer.

Whittingham built on the instant success generated by Meyer and in his 12 seasons has had seven seasons of at least nine wins, four double-digit seasons and a perfect 13-0 record in 2008. He has also coached Utah to 10 of the program’s 20 all-time bowl appearances and six of the program’s 10 final top-25 poll rankings.

As he enters his 13th year, he ties McBride (1990-2002) as the second longest-tenured coach in Utah history behind Ike Armstrong (1925-1949). With 104 career wins, Whittingham ranks second in school history behind Armstrong (141). Whittingham was the National Coach of the Year and the Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year in 2008.

On a national scale, Whittingham enters the 2017 season tied with Ohio’s Frank Solich and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy as the fourth-longest tenured FBS head coaches behind Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz and Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops (both hired in 1999) and TCU’s Gary Patterson (hired in 2000) in terms of active streaks of consecutive years at a school.

Though most of his time as head coach at Utah came before the Utes joined the Pac-12 Conference, Whittingham is the longest tenured coach in the league and joins Stanford’s David Shaw as the only two remaining coaches from the debut season of the expanded 12-team conference in 2011.

2016 Review: Utah’s 2016 season began with strong momentum with wins against Southern Utah, BYU and San Jose State in non-conference play followed by an impressive 31-27 victory over USC in the Utes’ Pac-12 opener.

The Utes would drop the next game at California but then rip off three straight wins over Arizona, Oregon State and UCLA. After a close loss to eventual conference champion Washington and a bye week thereafter, Utah traveled to Tempe and downed the Devils by a score of 49-26.

Utah ended the 2016 regular season on a small skid by losing games to Oregon and Colorado. After finishing the regular season 8-4 and third in the Pac-12 south, Utah claimed its ninth victory with a 26-24 win over Indiana in the Foster Farms Bowl.

Over the course of the season, Utah was ranked in the Associated Press top-25 11 times, with a high ranking of No. 13 with a 7-2 record in early November. The Utes finished the season with a 9-4 record and ranked No. 23 in the final AP Poll.

The Utes placed three players on the Pac-12 Conference First Team including running back Joe Williams, defensive lineman Hunter Dimick and punter Mitch Wishnowsky. Wishnowsky was also a Unanimous All-American and the Ray Guy Award winner and Dimick was a Second-Team All-American.

Key Number for 2017: Three

Other than senior Salesi Uhatefe who brings 25 career starts into the 2017 season, Utah’s entire remaining offensive line combines for three career starts – two by Jackson Barton and one by Lo Falemaka, all in 2016.

Program Overview: An average-at-best program prior to the mid-1990s, Utah only played in two bowl games from the end of World War II until 1992.

In 1994, the Utes would make their third-straight bowl appearance – a Freedom Bowl victory over Arizona – and finish with a 10-2 record and a No. 8 Coaches Poll ranking, at the time making it the best season in program history.

Through the remainder of the ‘90s and into the early-2000s, the pendulum would swing back and forth for Utah as bowl berths in 1996, 1999 and 2001 were surrounded by a few sub-.500 seasons.

The Utah program was forever changed for the better prior to the 2003 season when former Bowling Green head coach Urban Meyer was hired. Meyer brought immediate success in a 10-2 finish, the program’s first outright conference title since 1957 and a Liberty Bowl victory.

For the better part of the next decade, Utah would join Boise State and TCU as the most prominent programs from conferences outside the traditional power leagues.

In his second year, Meyer and the Utes reached a new program milestone with a perfect 12-0 record, a Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh and a No. 4 final ranking by the Associated Press. In the spring of 2005, Utah quarterback Alex Smith became the number one overall pick in the NFL Draft.

Meyer left Utah for Florida after just two seasons, allowing Kyle Whittingham, an assistant coach for the Utes since 1994, to be promoted to head coach. Utah would take a temporary step back but incrementally rebuild under Whittingham, as the Utes finished 7-5 in 2005, 8-5 in 2005 and 9-4 in 2007.

In 2008, Whittingham outdid his predecessor by not only surging back into the national spotlight with an undefeated 13-0 finish, but by defeating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and earning a No. 2 final ranking by the Associated Press.

From there, Utah had back-to-back 10-3 finishes in 2009 and 2010 and prior to the 2010 season the Utes agreed to join what was then the Pac-10 Conference the following season.

Utah enjoyed general success in its debut season in the Pac-12 despite taking a two-game dip in the win column, finishing 8-5 and tied for second in the south division. The next two seasons, some began to wonder if Utah would be able to sustain success in the more prominent conference as 2012 and 2013 resulted in 5-7 final records.

The Utes would bounce back and now enter 2017 on the heels of a solid three-year run, finishing 9-4 in 2014, 10-3 in 2015 and 9-4 in 2016.

Series Record vs. ASU (Most Recent Meeting): ASU 20, Utah 8 (Utah 49, ASU 26 on Nov. 10, 2016 in Tempe)

The series began in 1961 with Utah claiming a 28-26 win in Tempe before the two teams became conference adversaries in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) from 1962-77. As members of the WAC, ASU compiled a 10-5 record against Utah.

Though ASU upgraded to the Pac-10 Conference in 1978, the two teams would play on a relatively consistent basis in the 1980s and early 1990s as Arizona State and Utah met six times from 1981-93 – all wins for the Sun Devils.

Starting in 2011, ASU and Utah again became conference competitors when the Pac-10 grew to become the Pac-12 Conference with the additions of the Utes as well as Colorado. The Sun Devils won the first four matchups from 2011-14 but have dropped the past two.

Current Series Streak: Utah, 2

In 2015, ASU had its streak of four wins against Utah as Pac-12 foes and 11 overall consecutive victories spoiled when the Utes downed the Devils in Salt Lake City. Utah made it back-to-back wins by defeating Arizona State last season in Tempe.

Key Departures: OL Garett Bolles, DL Hunter Dimick, WR Tim Patrick, RB Joe Williams, DB Marcus Williams

Few storylines last season in college football were as unique as former Utah running back Joe Williams, who over the course of just a few months went from retirement from football to the fast lane to the NFL.

In mid-September after just two games, Williams stepped away from his senior season into retirement from football. Though at the time the reasons were unknown and largely attributed to wear-and-tear, the ultimate reason would prove to be Williams’ need to cope with resonating personal issues stemming from the 2007 death of his sister. Over the course of the next month, Utah would lose its top three running backs due to injury, creating a desperate need for Williams to return.

After four games away from the program, Williams’ return to the Utah lineup was nothing short of spectacular as in his first game back he totaled 179 yards on 34 carries and the next week exploded for a school record 332 yards with four touchdowns on 29 carries against UCLA.

Overall, after only rushing for 75 total yards on 22 carries in two games before his four-game hiatus, Williams would average 190.3 rushing yards per game across the seven games he played after his return. Williams, who ended his college career with 222 rushing yards in Utah’s Foster Farms Bowl win over Indiana, was named a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection and had final season stats of 1,438 rushing yards with 10 touchdowns in just nine games.

Though he was not one of the eight Utes drafted this spring, the fearsome presence of Hunter Dimick undoubtedly will be missed in the Utah defensive front. Last season, Dimick made a strong case to challenge USC’s Adoree Jackson for the Pac-12 Conference Pat Tillman Defensive Player of the Year Award as the First-Team All-Pac-12 selection posted 54 tackles including 20.0 for loss with 14.5 sacks as a senior.

Sadly for Sun Devil fans, Dimick’s most dominant effort came against Arizona State when he set school records with 5.0 sacks and 6.5 tackles for loss. Altogether, Dimick ranked third nationally in sacks, tied for ninth nationally in total tackles for loss and was the Pac-12 Conference leader in both categories.

Headlined by first-round draft pick Garrett Bolles, Utah loses four of its five starting offensive linemen from the end of last season as well as would-be starter J.J. Dielman who missed the majority of the season due to injury.

Bolles only played one season in Salt Lake City but made the absolute most of it as he was a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection and later became the 20th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft.

One of the premier defensive backs in the Pac-12 the past few seasons, Marcus Williams bypassed his senior season to enter the 2017 NFL Draft. As a junior, Williams was a Second-Team All-Pac-12 pick after totaling 64 tackles and five interceptions from his safety position. Williams was a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection as a sophomore in 2015.

Like Dimick, wide receiver Tim Patrick did not hear his name called as an NFL Draft pick but was Utah’s most productive player at the position in 2016. Last year, Patrick caught 45 passes for 711 yards with five touchdowns, all team-highs for the year.

Players Selected in the 2017 NFL Draft: OL Garett Bolles (1st round, 20th overall to Denver), DB Marcus Williams (2nd round, 42nd overall to New Orleans), RB Joe Williams (4th round, 121st overall to San Francisco), OL Isaac Asiata (5th round, 164th overall to Miami), DB Brian Allen (5th round, 173rd overall to Pittsburgh), OL J.J. Dielman (5th round, 176th overall to Cincinnati), OL Sam Tevi (6th round, 190th overall to San Diego), LB Pita Taumoepenu (6th round, 202nd overall to San Francisco)

Somewhat surprising of a program that has yet to win a division title in the Pac-12 Conference, Utah produced the most draft selections of any team in the league (eight), tying Florida and LSU for the fourth-best output behind Michigan (11), Alabama (10) and Miami (nine).

Top Returners: DB Chase Hansen, LB Lowell Lotulelei, DL Filipo Mokofisi, WR Raelon Singleton, P Mitch Wishnowsky,

Though Utah loses four of its five starting defensive backs, the one that returns is a highly talented piece of the Ute defense in Chase Hansen. An Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 pick in 2016, Hansen was the team leader in tackles (90) last season and established a knack for making key plays as he recovered four fumbles, forced another three and hauled in three interceptions.

Looking to follow in the footsteps of his brother Star who dominated in the trenches for Utah, Lowell Lotulelei returns after totaling 28 tackles including 8.5 for loss with 3.5 sacks on his way to Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 recognition last year. Lotulelei was a First-Team All-Pac-12 selection in 2015 and a First-Team Freshman All-American as a rookie in 2014.

Senior Filipo Mokofisi pairs with Lotulelei to give Utah perhaps the most talented tandem of defensive tackles in the Pac-12. Last year, Mokofisi collected 45 tackles including 8.0 for loss with 5.0 sacks and like Lotulelei earned Honorable Mention All-Pac-12 distinction.

With Tim Patrick as well as fellow starter Cory Butler-Byrd gone, the new favorite target for quarterback Troy Williams may prove to be Raelon Singleton, who as a sophomore caught 27 passes for 464 yards with four touchdowns. Singleton has impressive size (6-3, 215) and dynamic playmaking skills evidenced by his team-high 17.2-yards per catch average last season.

The latest in a line of massively successful Australian punters at Utah, Mitch Wishnowsky picked up exactly where his predecessor and countryman Tom Hackett left off. A Unanimous All-American, Wishnowsky was the winner of the 2016 Ray Guy Award, a trophy claimed by Hackett each of the two previous seasons. No other program has produced multiple punters to claim a Ray Guy Award since the trophy’s introduction in 2000.

Wishnowsky was the Pac-12 leader and by just a hair ranked second nationally averaging 47.7 yards per punt, barely edged by Florida’s Johnny Townsend who punted 64 times for 3,065 yards compared to the 64 for 3,053 by the Utah specialist.

2017 Signing Class Ranking: 25th nationally, sixth in Pac-12 Conference

The top class Utah has signed in the ‘Internet Era’, the Utes claimed their first top-25 class according to the Rivals rankings.

Utah’s four four-star signees ties its 2010 haul behind the five signed in 2012 as the most the Utes have signed in one class in the ‘Internet Era’.

The Utes also made a late surge as one-quarter of the class chose Utah on Signing Day. Also, per usual Utah had a strong emphasis on junior college recruiting as five of the 20 signees came from the JUCO ranks.

Top Signees: DB Jaylon Johnson, DB Corrion Ballard, WR Bryan Thompson, RB T.J. Green, WR Tyquez Hampton

The highest rated high school player to sign with Utah in the ‘Internet Era’ (since 2002), Jaylon Johnson was ranked No. 64 overall by Rivals and the sixth-best cornerback prospect in the nation. ASU heavily pursued the Fresno native and he visited Tempe a few weeks before Signing Day but stuck with his pledge to the Utes. Johnson also took official visits to Nebraska and Oklahoma.

Utah has a strong reputation of success with junior college prospects and Corrion Ballard could be the newest name to that list. Rated the No. 14 overall JUCO prospect a four-star recruit and the third-best junior college defensive back in the nation, the Blinn Community College product also took official visits to Nebraska, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech before choosing Utah.

With four starting positions open among the five typical defensive back starters for Utah, Johnson and Ballard – especially Ballard – could be starters for the Utes this fall. Ballard was one of two early enrollees and one would assume should have every opportunity to earn a starting spot in 2017.

A four-star prospect, Bryan Thompson was rated the No. 25 wide receiver and No. 153 overall recruit for the 2017 class. The Moreno Valley, Calif., product was offered by ASU and a host of other schools and in addition to Utah also visited Boise State and Nebraska before committing to the Utes the day before Signing Day. Utah loses two of its top three wide receivers that combined for 74 receptions in 2016, opening the door of possibility for early time for Thompson.

An Arizonan that ASU did not pursue, T.J. Green of Chandler High School was awarded a four-star rating and was ranked the No. 22 running back prospect in the nation for 2017. Despite his accolades from Rivals, recruiting attention was modest as Utah and Oregon State are the only Power 5 teams to offer Green, as did Boise State, Hawaii, Idaho and Utah State from the FBS level.

Last season Utah experienced injury issues the likes of which are rarely seen in college football, though oddly it all worked out for the best as the health issues prompted Joe Williams to return from a brief retirement and shine at a level that helped him become a fourth-round NFL Draft pick. Zack Moss and Armand Shyne return after injuries last year, likely making Green a fringe reserve/redshirt candidate.

Joining Ballard as an early enrollee was Tyquez Hampton, rated the No. 80 wide receiver prospect for the 2017 class. Also offered by schools including Washington State and West Virginia, the El Paso native will look to use his size (6-2, 204) and the experience of spring drills to his benefit and etch out a role as a freshman this fall.