Win over Michigan could really set up Utah’s season

Utah fans are thrilled to be in the PAC-12 and playing great teams week in and week out. They are not thrilled to have gone 5-7 the past two seasons and not played in bowl games. It is widely rumored that Coach Whittingham and his staff could be on the chopping block if the Utes don’t go at least 6-6 this year. A win this weekend to run their record to 3-0 would be huge!

Should Utah secure a win over Michigan on the road and move to 3-0, you’d sure like their chances to go at least 3-6 in the Pac-12 this year, finish 6-6 and secure that elusive bowl game invitation.

Many Utah Fans are even more optimistic – and with good reason. They finally have a healthy quarterback who seems to be playing well. Kenneth Scott is back making plays at receiver after injury last year. Utah’s defense is very solid as always. The defense will have Gionni Paul in the line-up for the fist time. He is expected to have a big impact. Paul transferred from Miami and was injured in Spring ball.

The Utah offense has looked good in the first two games. The first game was basically a scrimmage and the other was against Fresno State, who is now 0-3 and has not been within about 30 points of any opponent. We will have a much better idea of who the real Utah team is after Saturday. And should they win, it’s time to really start getting hyped about this team and this season.

Keep in mind that even if Utah loses to Michigan, all is not lost. If you evaluated their PAC-12 schedule based off pre-season rankings, it was tough to see where 4 or 5 wins would come from. However, after seeing UCLA look unimpressive in their first 3 games, USC lose to Boston College, Arizona State lose their quarterback, Washington State get beat up on and Washington and Arizona barely squeak by lesser opponents – the schedule may not be quite as brutal. You’ve got to be feeling good about things.

2014-2015 SCHEDULE

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time / Result
utah schedule
08/28/14	vs. Idaho State	Salt Lake City	W, 56-14
09/06/14	vs. Fresno State	Salt Lake City	W, 59-27
09/20/14	at Michigan	Ann Arbor, Mich.	3:30 p.m. ET
09/27/14	vs. Washington State	Salt Lake City	6:00 p.m. MT
10/04/14	at UCLA	Los Angeles	TBA
10/16/14	at Oregon State	Corvallis, Ore.	7:00 p.m. PT
10/25/14	vs. USC	Salt Lake City	TBA
11/01/14	at Arizona State	Tempe, Ariz.	TBA
11/08/14	vs. Oregon	Salt Lake City	TBA
11/15/14	at Stanford	Stanford, Calif.	TBA
11/22/14	vs. Arizona	Salt Lake City	TBA
11/29/14	at Colorado	Boulder, Colo.	TBA