Utah Utes Preseason Predictions: Part 1

It's no secret that I am a huge Utah football fan. I love watching my Utes. This year will be really weird though because I will also be attending pharmacy school and don't know how much I can get into the season. Don't get me wrong, I will attend any and all games I can, but I will also be really busy.

Utah is being chosen as taking second behind USC again in the media polls, which I think is fair. Since I probably won't have a lot of time to break down games once school starts, I thought I would go through the schedule here and break them down a bit.

Game 1 - North Dakota

North Dakota is coming off of a 9-3 season in the Big Sky. Utah is coming off of a 9-4 campaign in the Pac-12. I could see Utah either having a ho-hum game like last season against SUU or completely destroying North Dakota here. In no way do I see North Dakota pulling this off.

Utah's new offense will probably be very secretive still after this game. I don't think there will be any need to air the ball out against North Dakota, so new OC Troy Taylor will probably be very conservative. That will probably lead to a 34-0 win or something similar to SUU last year. If, for whatever reason, Taylor opens up the playbook for some bombs, it could easily end up 61-10 or something like that.

Game 2 - @ BYU   

This is going to be the second installment of teacher vs. student in the Holy War. Kyle Whittingham has a tale that he said last time BYU beat Utah that he "will never lose to those guys again." We'll see if he can keep that word going as he hasn't lost to BYU since. The rivalry seems to have taken a cooler spin to it since Whittingham and Kalani Sitake are such good friends, which is a breath of fresh air in a stuffy, bitter rivalry.

BYU QB Tanner Mangum finally will have his chance to shine even though I thought he should have been the guy from day one last year. If BYU OC Ty Detmer can go back to the old days of airing it out, BYU's offense could be incredibly potent with speedster Jonah Trinnaman going deep.

The place where BYU's offense will lack is running back with Squally Canada in the backfield. The running game for the Cougars will probably take a huge step backward unless Canada can prove he is as good as Jamaal Williams, which I doubt.

Utah's offense will be new once again and will probably be more keen to opening up the playbook a bit in this one to show off what it can do. Where BYU lacks on offense, Utah is sitting strong. Running back is going to be strong for Utah again as long as they are all healthy. Utah returns Armand Shyne and Zach Moss and adds Devontae Henry-Cole, who has burst onto the scene with speed and power. Not to mention freshman T.J. Green could get some carries to complement the others.

Defensively, both teams are going to be very strong for years to come because of the style of the coaches. Whittingham and Sitake are both defensive-minded coaches, and I don't expect that to change anytime soon.

I expect Utah to win this game, but it will probably be closer than comfort because....Holy War. That's just life in this rivalry.

Game 3 - SJSU

Utah will continue with its terrible out of conference scheduling by playing San Jose State at home. The Spartans were terrible last year, and I doubt one year is going to drastically change that. Utah should win probably in ho-hum fashion without any explosive plays through the air. It shouldn't be close, and I don't expect it to be.

Game 4 - @ Arizona

The Utes will finally get into the conference schedule in the fourth week of the season going up against Arizona. The Wildcats had Utah's number for years until last year when Utah finally got the monkey off its back and beat the Wildcats 36-23. This time though, Utah has to travel to Arizona. That fact hasn't boded well for the Utes recently.

Ariona struggled last year with injuries at the QB position, but with more solidarity there, they could have been a better team, although in the South division not that much better. QB Brian Dawkins will have most of a season under his belt looking to take on more of the offense going in. I just can't see Arizona turning it around in time for the first conference match though. Utah should win, especially if it can expose the Arizona defense which shouldn't be tested too much until this game (even though they theoretically could lose to Houston).

Game 5 - Stanford

What has become the battle of the trenches every meeting, Utah and Stanford will meet after a two-year hiatus. This game will be a grind-it-out type of battle unless the teams change offensive styles completely, which is possible under Troy Taylor. I think Utah will match up more to the running game in this one to keep our defense from getting too tired. If Utah's air game is significantly better than in year's past, Utah will probably still try to air it out here and there, but not at the expense of a tired defense.

It will be hard for Stanford to replace McCaffrey who is now with the Carolina Panthers, but Bryce Love will be looking forward to more touches. Love could turn out to be a star for the Cardinal.

I think Utah will win bigger than most will think. I believe this because Utah has potentially four running backs that could go at the Stanford defense and will wear them down quicker with different looks, power and speed. Stanford will be forced to go to the air and not be able to keep up when Utah will be able to play to its strengths.

Game 6 - @ USC

Utah will try to pull off something it hasn't done since 1916 in week 6. Utah hasn't beaten USC in LA since then and neither team has beaten the other on their home turf since 2012 when USC beat the Utes at Rice-Eccles Stadium.

USC's QB Sam Darnold hasn't lost since Utah beat him last year in the final seconds of the game in an instant classic, which also happened to be his first start. Darnold seems to be everything that Josh Rosen was supposed to be at UCLA. He's athletic, accurate and just wins games.

Utah will have its work cut out just trying to stop Darnold, while also trying to get past one of the most athletic and talented defenses in the Pac-12. This is where Utah's first loss will come. USC might be the team of destiny this year for the Pac-12. I think Utah could keep it close, but against Darnold in LA, I don't think it's happening. Utah will have to wait until 2019 to try to beat USC in LA in the first time in over a century.