The Utah Utes ran their all time bowl record to 12-3 after they defeated Cal in the Poinsettia Bowl to cap off a 10-3 season. Kyle Whittingham has a constructed a winning tradition at Utah and no program gets more out of junior college transfers than the Utes. Fans have grown accustom to 10 win seasons and always coming out on top in their bowl appearances. Look for Utah to battle TCU for the Mountain West title this season. Odds of Utah winning the MWC are +150. View the full conference breakdown in our 2010 Mountain West college football predictions article.
The Utah offense will be one of the best in the Mountain West this season. QB Jordan Wynn cemented his status as the starter coming into the season with a 338 yard three touchdown performance in the bowl game. Whittingham sat Terrance Cain with five games remaining in favor of Wynn, but Cain provides experience and depth at the quarterback position. The Utes scored seven more points per game with Wynn under center. Eddie Wide and Matt Asiata will form a thunder/lightning backfield. Both are accomplished backs, but Wide finally got his shot when Asiata suffered a season ending injury in the fourth game last year. He ran for over 1000 yards and scored a team high 12 touchdowns. Asiata was the starter before his injury and received a sixth year of eligibility. The bruising back punishes opposing defenses and should split carries equally with the electric Wide. Jereme Brooks is without a doubt the #1 wide receiver this season after a so-so transition from the junior college ra nks. David Reed was a 5th round draft pick of the Baltimore Ravens after catching 81 passes last season. Sophomores Luke Matthews and DeVonte Christopher should see their roles increase in 10'. The offensive line has to replace 1st team All American LT Zane Beadles, but do return four starters.
The defensive side of the ball actually put up very good numbers in 2009 allowing just 176 yards passing/game and a little over 20 points per contest. A lot of talent was lost to graduation, however, and the uncertainty on defense could prevent the Utes from winning the Mountain West. The defensive line is the strength of this unit with NT Sealver Siliga plugging the middle. He recorded 49 tackles impressively and 5.5 of them were behind the line of scrimmage. Derrick Shelby is still rehabbing a torn acl and is a very productive pass rusher from his defensive end position. It is anyone's guess who will lead the linebackers. VJ Fehoko has the most upside, but has yet to do anything noteworthy on the field. JJ Williams collected 20 tackles as a sophomore while playing along side a veteran group of players. The secondary is locked down by corner Brandon Burton. His 10 pass deflections led the team, but his interceptions need to come up as he had just one a year ago. The Utes look to be very solid in special teams once again. K Joe Phillips was a semi finalist for the Lou Groza Award last season, but did not connect on a field goal over 44 yards. WR Shaky Smithson handled both kickoff and punt returns effectively at times.
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Non conference games with Pitt, Iowa State and Notre Dame put Utah in the BCS bowl picture if they can win at least two of those and play well in conference. The Utes are 16-5 in home openers so Pitt will have their hands full on September 2nd. Their schedule is a little quirky with three conference games after the opener and then a road trip to Ames, IA. The conference title will likely be decided on November 6th when TCU comes to town. Most of their difficult games are on home turf which is nice. I really like the setup of this team and believe they win at least 10 games for the third straight season.
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