2011 Utah Prediction

Well, kickoff is in less than 24 hours! Here's a little of what I think will happen this season with Utah.

The biggest question going into the offseason this year was the secondary. Those concerns seem to be quite a bit smaller, with guys like Conroy Black, Ryan Lacy, Mo Lee, Keith McGill, and Eric Rowe looking good. The biggest concern I see right now for the secondary is the depth. It seems that there are some capable guys back there, but I wonder about how good the players are behind them. The secondary is absolutely crucial if Utah is going to do well in the Pac-12 with the great quarterbacks. Utah will need to play well in the secondary to stop guys like Nick Foles (Arizona), Brock Osweiler (Arizona State), Matt Barkely (USC), Ryan Katz (Oregon State), and Jeff Tuel (Washington State).

The front seven should be great and really help out the secondary. The linebackers (Chaz Walker, Matt Martinez, Brian Blechen, J.J. Williams) paired with the defensive linemen (Joe Kruger, Dave Kruger, Derrick Shelby, James Aiono, Nai Fotu) should make one of the defensive front seven units in the conference. Hopefully they'll be able to get enough pressure on the quarterbacks so the secondary isn't left out to dry. It doesn't hurt to have 6-foot-7 DE Joe Kruger dropping back into coverage either.

Norm Chow will lead a new offense that looks to be pretty explosive. QB Jordan Wynn is coming off shoulder surgery and should be much improved from last year. He said he never felt comfortable in the spread offense and feels much more comfortable playing Utah's new pro-style offense, which he played in high school.

While neither RB Matt Asiata or RB Eddie Wide are returning, the backfield looks stacked. JC transfer John White is a smaller, shifty runner that should get more carries than the other backs. Returning senior Tauni Vakapuna will be very difficult to take down. True freshman Harvey Langi is a solid back and will be familiar with the offense, as that is what he played in at Bingham High School. Thretton Palamo is huge and fast and played rugby until the spring. All four of these running backs could be starters, but White won the spot in fall camp.

WR DeVonte Christopher is back, and the receivers seem stacked as well. Young receivers Dres Anderson and Reggie Dunn are two of the fastest guys on the team and could really make a difference. JC Transfer Anthony Denham is very tall and could make a big impact as soon as his hamstring is healed.

The offensive line has some great playmakers, but seemed a little thin. The three returning starters are Tony Bergstrom, Tevita Stevens, and John Cullen. Sam Brenner also played in 12 games last year. While the starters are all very solid players, a number of guys got hurt in fall camp. If they get hurt again during the season, Utah's offense could really struggle.

In all, I think the key to Utah having a successful season is overall health. Playing 9 Pac-12 games for the first time, it's hard to tell how guys will hold up. It's important that the offensive line, quarterback, and secondary remain healthy throughout the season. At running back, wide receiver, and the front seven it looks like they could take a few hits and still be alright. One big thing helping Utah this year will be their schedule. They don't have to play Oregon or Stanford, and they get Arizona State at home. They do have to travel to USC and Arizona, and those could both be losses.

I think Utah will lose at USC and three other games, finishing the regular season 8-4. They could lose at Arizona, at BYU, and/or at Pitt. It's hard to pick games for Utah to lose other than USC, but it's hard to think that Utah will not drop a game or two that they probably shouldn't. I do think they'll beat Arizona State at home, and I think they'll end in 2nd place behind USC. They'll either be one game ahead of ASU or tied with them, and win the tiebreaker. Since USC can't go to the conference championship, Utah will go and get destroyed by Oregon. So, I think Utah is 8-5 heading into a bowl game, which would be almost impossible to predict a win/loss there as we don't know which game that will be.