How does Utah do in the 2022 rankings?

[ProudUte]

I found 12 preseason polls.  Utah is ranked in all of them.  They are ranked as high as 4th in two different polls including the Athletic and the Pro Football Network.  They are ranked in the top 10 ten times.  The only two exceptions are 13th (CBS Sports) and 20th (College Football News).

So most preseason polls think that the Utes are a top-ten team.  Are they really?  I think the jury is still out.  We have a lot of reasons to be optimistic about our offense.  They looked very good at the end of last season.  Covey will be a big loss, but we have a lot of weapons.  Our defense is an unknown right now.  Can we replace Lloyd and Sewel?  We have the studs, but can they deliver.

[UteFanatic]

I think Utah is, and can end the season as a top 10 team. After a rough start last year, the offense really couldn’t be stopped. Most of the offensive production returns and that’s why Utah is being ranked favorably. Agreed that Covey is a huge loss, though. 

Couple the good offense with what is always a solid defense under Whitt and Scalley (assuming we aren’t down to sixth string players and RBs playing corner). Lloyd and Sewell are huge losses, but this position group is stacked. 

The nice thing is we will know if Utah is a pretender right out of the gate. Even though Florida is down, this is still a very tough road game. If Utah wins comfortably, then that is a sign of a VERY good season to come.

[EmersonUte]

I’ve been thinking a lot about this.  Here’s my take:  If you lined up all of the Utah offenses from 2005 until now (the Whittingham era), I think the #1 offense was the 2021 team, and the #2 offense was the 2019 team (Huntley, Moss).  And that is huge.  We’re returning most of it.  Amazing TE’s, amazing RB room, and a guy who I think will go down as the 2nd best QB in Utah football history behind Alex Smith based on his cojones alone.  Solid O Line returnees, decent WR’s that are young and could continue to improve.  So that’s great.

Defense, though, we’ve got to be honest.  Our 2021 defense had an amazing individual talent in Lloyd.  But I don’t think Tafua was quite as dominant as we’d hoped, and the fact that Junior Tafuna was able to do those amazing things as a freshman is great, but speaks a bit to not having as much high-end depth on the DL as usual.  Then you combine secondary injuries.  I’d say the 2021 defense was at best a middle of the road D from the Whittingham era.  So this year with good health, increased secondary depth, the real question in my mind is the adjustment for Diabate and how Lander Barton / Justin Medlock play.  We need it to be great out of the chute week 1.  If they’re a top 25 percentile defense in the Whittingham era, then this year could be crazy.

I think we’re legitimate top 10, but a healthy step below what Alabama and Ohio State will be this year.

[ProudUte]

I agree that our 2021 offense was the best in the KW era (at least at the end of the season).  We put up 45 points on OSU in the Rose Bowl.  We have our QB back and most of the RB room back.  With the addition of Glover we should be better IMO.  Our two best receiving TEs are back and we have a whole host of other guys ready to play.  The Covey loss will hurt as will losing two good offensive linemen.  But, I am very excited about our offense.

I don’t think that our D was even an average KW defense.  However, they did improve until the injury plague hit us hard.  Personally, I am excited about our safeties.  Our Dline needs to produce a better pass rush.  We do have a deep LB room, but with very little playing experience.  I don’t think we can expect Barton to come in and be an AA right off the bat.

I totally agree that we are not in the same league as Alabama, et al.

Go Utes!!!

 

 

[Stone]

Obviously what will happen next season is purely speculation, but if we are judging on past results, Utah is not that far away from Ohio State. Arguably, they are peers. I know it is easy to get starry-eyed about the SEC and blue-bloods, but Utah matched Ohio State blow for blow in the Rose Bowl, and was in the lead for the majority of that game. Also, Utah beat Bama the last time they played. 

Again, I realize this year is different from the past. And I am not suggesting we should profess to be better than any of those schools. But I think it is okay to have a bit more confidence than we Utah fans are accustomed to having (the 70s and 80s have had some near permanent damage to our psyche).

[Trailgoat]

Utah’s offense has been very inconsistent up until 2019 in P12 play. OC bad hires/management, OC turnover, KWs offense mismanagment, marginal O recruiting all primary factors in Utah having a losing P12 record through 2018.

Dennis Erickson can not get enough credit for turning Utah’s offense around most importantly through recruiting  the Hollendale trio. This is Utah’s year with one of their best offensive teams since 2004/2008. Defense should be solid this season as Scalley always seems to have the D dialed in. Going to enjoy every minute of this promising season as big changes are on the way for college and Utah football.

Wild card for me is how KW handles coaching in critical situations against good teams in close games and having his team healthy and ready to play Sept 3rd. Cannot start the season with half the Oline injured. Great coaches vs. good coaches have a knack for finishing close games. Kw has struggled with good decision making in some key games Utah was positioned to win through his career. Utah will likely be in a number of close games coming down to the wire dependent on critical coach decisions. Go Utes!

[Tony (admin)]

You forgot about the most important and unbiased poll of them all, the Ute Hub poll: 

What is your way too early preseason Utah Football raking?

• Top 10 (57%, 119 Votes)
   
• Top 15 (29%, 61 Votes)
   
• Top 5 (6%, 13 Votes)
   
• Top 20 (6%, 12 Votes)
   
• Top 25 (2%, 5 Votes)
   
• 25+ (0%, 0 Votes)
   

Total Voters: 210

 

[Central Coast Ute]

Completely scientific and unbiased.

[Tony (admin)]

Absolutely. Facts are facts. #trustthescience 

[UTE98]

Can’t remember where I read it, but if you get a group of enough people to offer an unbiased opinion you’ll find the average of the group is pretty accurate.

The example they used was that a large group guessed the weight of a 1000+ lb cow within three pounds.

So not surprised we UteHub members came up with these results.

This may have been in the book influencer, can’t remember.

[FtheY]

Yep, that’s a thing. I’ve always heard of it called the “wisdom of the crowds”, interesting stuff. Crazy how that happens, similar to a normal distribution or pareto as well. 

[Tony (admin)]

I’ve thought of having all the users here do score predictions against the spread, and then seeing how well everyone does if real money was bet on the games… 

[FtheY]

That would be awesome. Probably a lot of work on your end but I’d participate and I’m sure others would too. I’m too much of a chicken to actually gamble now (I’ve never won a single sports bet – lost every time) but might be fun to see how we’d fare if we had bet.