2018 Utah Utes football team

The 2018 Utah Utes football team represented the University of Utah during the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Utes were led by 14th-year head coach Kyle Whittingham and played their home games in Rice–Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City, UT. They were members of the South Division of the Pac-12 Conference.

2018 Utah Utes football
Pac-12 South Division champion
Holiday Bowl, L 20–31 vs. Northwestern
ConferencePac-12 Conference
DivisionSouth Division
2018 record9–5 (6–3 Pac-12)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTroy Taylor (2nd season)
Offensive schemeMultiple
Defensive coordinatorMorgan Scalley (3rd season)
Base defense4–3
Home stadiumRice–Eccles Stadium
(Capacity: 45,807)[1]
Uniform
2018 Pac-12 Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
North Division
No. 13 Washington xy$  7 –2     10 –4  
No. 10 Washington State x  7 –2     11 –2  
Stanford  6 –3     9 –4  
Oregon  5 –4     9 –4  
California  4 –5     7 –6  
Oregon State  1 –8     2 –10  
South Division
Utah xy  6 –3     9 –5  
Arizona State  5 –4     7 –6  
USC  4 –5     5 –7  
Arizona  4 –5     5 –7  
UCLA  3 –6     3 –9  
Colorado  2 –7     5 –7  
Championship: Washington 10, Utah 3
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant
Rankings from AP Poll

The Utes completed the regular season with a 6–3 record in conference play, winning the South Division for the first time since joining the Pac-12 Conference in 2011. In the Pac-12 Championship Game, the team lost to North Division champion Washington by a score of 10–3. They were invited to the Holiday Bowl to play Big Ten Conference runner-up Northwestern, where the Utes lost by a score of 31–20 to end the year at 9–5 overall.

Utah was led on offense by quarterback Tyler Huntley until he suffered a season-ending collarbone fracture in the game against Arizona State on November 3. Redshirt freshman Jason Shelley started for the rest of the season.[2] Running back Zack Moss compiled 1,096 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Two members of the Utah offensive line earned first-team all-conference honors, Jordan Agasiva and Jackson Barton. Utah's defense featured four members of the first-team All-Pac-12: defensive linemen Bradlee Anae and Leki Fotu, linebacker Chase Hansen, and cornerback Jaylon Johnson. Hansen led the conference in tackles for loss with 22, and Anae tied for the conference lead in sacks with 8.[3]

Previous season

The Utes finished the 2017 season 7–6, 3–6 in Pac-12 play to finish in fifth place in the South Division. They were invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl where they defeated West Virginia.

Preseason

Position key
Back B Center C Cornerback CB Defensive back DB
Defensive end DE Defensive lineman DL Defensive tackle DT End E
Fullback FB Guard G Halfback HB Kicker K
Kickoff returner KR Offensive tackle OT Offensive lineman OL Linebacker LB
Long snapper LS Punter P Punt returner PR Quarterback QB
Running back RB Safety S Tight end TE Wide receiver WR

Recruits

The Utes signed a total of 20 recruits.

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Lott Trophy[4] Chase Hansen LB SR
Rimington Trophy[5] Lo Falemaka C SR
Chuck Bednarik Award[6] Julian Blackmon CB JR
Bradlee Anae DE JR
Maxwell Award[7] Zack Moss RB JR
Doak Walker Award[8] Zack Moss RB JR
Bronko Nagurski Trophy[9] Julian Blackmon CB JR
Outland Trophy[10] Lo Falemaka C SR
Lou Groza Award[11] Matt Gay K SR
Ray Guy Award[12] Mitch Wishnowsky P SR
Wuerffel Trophy[13] Chase Hansen DB SR
Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award[14] Tyler Huntley QB JR

Pac-12 Media Days

The 2018 Pac-12 media days are set for July 25, 2018 in Hollywood, California. Kyle Whittingham (HC), Chase Hanson (LB) & Lo Falemaka (OL) at Pac-12 Media Days. The Pac-12 media poll was released with the Utes predicted to finish in second place at Pac-12 South division.[15]

Media poll (South)
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1USC225 (22)
2Utah209 (14)
3Arizona178 (3)
4UCLA116 (2)
5Colorado80 (1)
6Arizona State72

Schedule

Utah announced their 2018 football schedule on November 16, 2017.[16] The Utes will play FCS Weber State and Northern Illinois and returning to the traditional last game of the year spot, Utah will play in-state rival BYU Cougars football in out-of-conference play. In Pac-12 conference play, the Utes will not play cross-divisional foes California and Oregon State.

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
August 306:00 p.m.No. 8 (FCS) Weber State*
P12NW 41–1045,988
September 85:30 p.m.at Northern Illinois*
ESPNewsW 17–616,762
September 158:00 p.m.No. 10 Washington
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
ESPNL 7–2147,445
September 294:00 p.m.at Washington State
P12NL 24–2830,088
October 68:30 p.m.at No. 14 Stanford
ESPNW 40–2137,244
October 128:00 p.m.Arizona
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
ESPNW 42–1045,862
October 206:00 p.m.USC
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
P12NW 41–2846,405
October 268:30 p.m.at UCLANo. 23
ESPNW 41–1041,848
November 32:00 p.m.at Arizona StateNo. 16
P12NL 20–3846,445
November 103:30 p.m.Oregon
  • Rice–Eccles Stadium
  • Salt Lake City, UT
P12NW 32–2546,275
November 1711:30 a.m.at ColoradoNo. 21
P12NW 30–739,360
November 248:00 p.m.BYU*No. 18
FS1W 35–2746,017
November 306:00 p.m.vs. No. 10 WashingtonNo. 17
FOXL 3–1035,134
December 315:00 p.m.vs. Northwestern*No. 20
FS1L 20–3147,007
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Mountain time

Source:[17]

Game summaries

Weber State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 8 (FCS) Wildcats 10 0 0 0 10
Utes 7 10 14 10 41
See also: 2018 Weber State Wildcats football team

at Northern Illinois
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 0 0 7 10 17
Huskies 3 0 0 3 6
See also: 2018 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

Washington
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 10 Huskies 7 7 7 0 21
Utes 7 0 0 0 7
See also: 2018 Washington Huskies football team

at Washington State
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 14 7 3 0 24
Cougars 7 14 0 7 28
See also: 2018 Washington State Cougars football team

at Stanford
1 2 3 4 Total
Utes 7 17 3 13 40
No. 14 Cardinal 0 7 14 0 21
See also: 2018 Stanford Cardinal football team

Arizona
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 0 3 7 10
Utes 14 14 7 7 42
See also: 2018 Arizona Wildcats football team

USC
1 2 3 4 Total
Trojans 14 0 0 14 28
Utes 7 13 14 7 41
See also: 2018 USC Trojans football team

at UCLA
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 23 Utes 3 14 21 3 41
Bruins 7 0 3 0 10
See also: 2018 UCLA Bruins football team

at Arizona State
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 16 Utes 7 10 3 0 20
Sun Devils 14 7 0 17 38
See also: 2018 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

Oregon
1 2 3 4 Total
Ducks 0 7 10 8 25
Utes 10 9 3 10 32
See also: 2018 Oregon Ducks football team

at Colorado
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 21 Utes 0 7 17 6 30
Buffaloes 7 0 0 0 7
See also: 2018 Colorado Buffaloes football team and Rumble in the Rockies

BYU
1 2 3 4 Total
Cougars 13 7 7 0 27
No. 18 Utes 0 0 14 21 35
See also: 2018 BYU Cougars football team, Holy War (BYU–Utah), and Beehive Boot

The Utes scored 28 unanswered points and overcame a 27–7 deficit in the third quarter to defeat their in-state rival, the BYU Cougars, for the eighth consecutive time.

vs. Washington (Pac-12 Championship Game)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 17 Utes 0 0 3 0 3
No. 10 Huskies 0 3 7 0 10
See also: 2018 Pac-12 Football Championship Game and 2018 Washington Huskies football team

vs. Northwestern (Holiday Bowl)
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 20 Utes 14 6 0 0 20
Wildcats 0 3 28 0 31
See also: 2018 Holiday Bowl and 2018 Northwestern Wildcats football team

Rankings
Further information: 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP RV RV RV RV RV NR RV RV 23 16 RV 21 18 17 20 RV 
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV NR RV RV 24 16 24 19 17 17 19 RV 
CFP Not released 15 NR 19 17 17 17 Not released

Players drafted into the NFL
See also: 2019 NFL Draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionNFL Club
247Marquise BlairSSeattle Seahawks
388Cody BartonLBSeattle Seahawks
4110Mitch WishnowskyPSan Francisco 49ers
5145Matt GayKTampa Bay Buccaneers
7240Jackson BartonOTIndianapolis Colts

References
  1. Rice-Eccles Stadium. The University of Utah. Retrieved April 19, 2017.
  2. Kragthorpe, Kurt (November 5, 2018). "Utes QB Tyler Huntley officially is out for the season, but he may play in a bowl game". The Salt Lake Tribune.
  3. "2018 Pac-12 Conference Year Summary". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved June 18, 2019.
  4. "2018 Watch List | Lott IMPACT Trophy | Honoring College Football's Defensive Best". lottimpacttrophy.org. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  5. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  6. "2018 Bednarik Award Watch List - Maxwell Football Club". Maxwell Football Club. 2018-07-16. Retrieved 2018-07-17.
  7. "2018 Maxwell Award Watch List". July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  8. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  9. "2018 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Preseason Watch List". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  10. "22018 OUTLAND TROPHY WATCH LIST UNVEILED". July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  11. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  12. "Ray Guy Award preseason watch list unveiled". July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  13. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  14. "Watch List for 2018 Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award ® Presented by A. O. Smith Announced". August 14, 2018. Retrieved August 17, 2018.
  15. "Washington picked as Pac-12 favorite in preseason media poll". July 25, 2018. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  16. Facer, Dirk (November 16, 2017). "Utah's 2018 football schedule released by Pac-12; Utes to face BYU last week of season". DeseretNews.com. Retrieved December 4, 2017.
  17. 2018 Utah Utes football schedule. FBSchedules.com. Retrieved Dec 4, 2017.
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