UMass Lowell
Vermont
11:00 am, March 11
#25 Missouri
#4 Alabama
1:00 pm, March 11
Ohio State
#5 Purdue
1:00 pm, March 11
Norfolk State
Howard
1:00 pm, March 11
Saint Louis
VCU
1:00 pm, March 11
Cincinnati
#1 Houston
3:00 pm, March 11
Vanderbilt
#18 Texas A&M
3:30 pm, March 11
Penn State
#19 Indiana
3:30 pm, March 11
Fordham
Dayton
3:30 pm, March 11
Texas Southern
Grambling
5:30 pm, March 11
Tulane
Memphis
5:30 pm, March 11
#7 Texas
#3 Kansas
6:00 pm, March 11
Utah State
#20 San Diego State
6:00 pm, March 11
#15 Xavier
#6 Marquette
6:30 pm, March 11
Kent State
Toledo
7:30 pm, March 11
Marist
Iona
7:30 pm, March 11
#21 Duke
#13 Virginia
8:30 pm, March 11
UAB
Florida Atlantic
8:30 pm, March 11
Cal State Fullerton
UC Santa Barbara
9:30 pm, March 11
#8 Arizona
#2 UCLA
10:30 pm, March 11
Grand Canyon
Southern Utah
11:30 pm, March 11

2019 Utah Utes Team Preview

Utah has been one of the safest bets in the country in the past few years, and they get 14 starters back from a team that won the South division last year, making them the favorite to repeat despite a tough schedule

Offense

QB Tyler Huntley returns after averaging 7.6 yards a throw in 2018. Huntley was hurt towards the end of the year but should be back at full health. Along with him returns all-conference RB Zack Moss, who rushed for nearly 1,100 yards on a 6.1 per carry basis last year.

Everyone is back in the receiving corps, including trusted target Britain Covery (60 receptions), deep threat Jaylen Dixon (18.4 yards per catch), slot man Britain Covey, and TE Cole Fotheringham, who was a great all-around tight end last year.

The line worries me a little as just two starters depart, but the Utes add a Washington State grad transfer and a few interesting freshman. This offense should be the best in recent history for Utah.

Defense

The Utes have a solid defense for a while but it ticked up even further in 2018, allowing just 4.6 yards a play and less than 20 points a game on average. They return one of the best lines in the leauge, with senior end Bradlee Anae (eight sacks, 7.5 TFL) and veteran tackles John Penisini and Leki Fotu in the middle (combined five sacks, eight TFL, very good in run defense). End Maxs Tupai is back after three sacks and three TFL as well.

On the second level, Utah loses star linebackers Chase Hansen and Cody Barton, but with a pair of transfers coming in, Manny Bowen from Penn State and Mique Juarez from UCLA, the talent shouldn’t drop off too much.

The secondary loses their top two safeties, but they return what was one of the best corner duos in the country last year, Jaylon Johnson and Julian Blackmon (combied 14 PBUs, five INTs). Blackmon will move to safety to fill the hole there and former JUCO transfer Tareke Lewis will step into his corner spot. Nickelback Javelin Guidry had nine PBUs last year and is back as well.

The D-Line and secondary should be excellent, and while I am worried a little about the linebacking corps, this could be one of the nation’s best defenses.

2019 Outlook

There are plenty of tossups on the schedule this year, and having to travel to face USC, Washington, and dark horse Arizona does hurt, but I’m even higher on the Utes than my model is, I think they’ll be a legit top 25 team and win the South yet again. Getting to a Rose Bowl or even a potential CFP bid over Washington or Oregon though? I’m not sure.

Schedule

DateOpponentopp. rankProj. Margin
29-Augat BYU581.2
7-SepNorthern Illinois8511.3
14-SepIdaho StateNRn/a
20-Sepat USC23-4.3
28-SepWashington State415.1
12-Octat Oregon State1017.7
19-OctArizona State333.9
26-OctCalifornia566.8
2-Novat Washington15-7.3
16-NovUCLA495.5
23-Novat Arizona47-0.6
30-NovColorado638.0

Average Projected Record: 7.8 wins, 4.2 losses (5.4 wins, 3.6 losses)