Pac-12 football preview: USC, Utah bring intrigue to former South division

[dystopiamembrane]

The college football world is changing in quite a few overdue ways. Last week, the NCAA announced it would allow conferences with championship games to ditch divisions and allow its top two teams to play in said title game; within minutes, the Pac-12 announced it would be doing just that and starting in 2022. This year’s Pac-12 championship game participants will be the two teams with the best conference record.

For the purposes of this preview series, we’ll keep the division structure. So while it’s possible (but highly improbable) that no one from this group of six teams plays for the Pac-12 title in Las Vegas on Dec. 2, let’s talk about the artist formerly known as the Pac-12 South.

The Pac-12 South didn’t lack for plot in 2021, though most of it was discouraging. Utah, however, just kept getting better. The Utes began the season 1-2 but won nine of 10 after Cameron Rising took over at quarterback. They beat USC by 16 and UCLA by 20, then stomped Oregon twice by a combined 76-17 to win the Pac-12. They nearly won a classic Rose Bowl against Ohio State, too. It was a ray of sunlight in a cruddy year for the Pac-12, and it set up Utah as an awfully interesting team for 2022.

2022 projections

TEAM	SP+ RK	OFF.	DEF.	AVG. W	CONF. W	BOWL ODDS
Utah	12	10	31	9.1	6.8	99%
UCLA	41	8	80	8.3	5.6	96%
Arizona State	42	55	29	7.9	5.6	98%
USC	51	24	84	6.7	5.0	58%
Arizona	96	97	87	3.3	2.2	8%
Colorado	100	94	92	2.5	2.0	2%

 

Burning questions

Will this be Whittingham’s best Utah team? Seventeen years ago, Urban Meyer left Utah for Florida; his defensive coordinator, Whittingham, a holdover from the Ron McBride era, stayed behind to pilot the ship. It’s safe to say he has done it well. The Utes went 13-0 in 2008 and earned a move from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011. After some stumbles, they’ve risen to the challenge, winning two South titles in the past four years and taking the Pac-12 crown last fall. They’ve done most of this without a great offense — from 2005 to ’18, the Utes averaged a 54.4 ranking in offensive SP+.

In 2019, however, Whittingham rediscovered his offensive soulmate: coordinator Andy Ludwig. Utah’s OC from 2005 to ’08, Ludwig developed some new tricks over time, and under his watch the Utes’ offense has ranked 16th, 30th and 14th the past three years. Starting with Utah’s 42-26 win over USC on Oct. 9, Rising, a Texas transfer, was the No. 5 quarterback in the FBS, per Total QBR, completing 65% of his passes and averaging 7.9 yards per non-sack carry. Utah averaged 39 points per game over its last 10. Rising is back, as are leading rusher Tavion Thomas, big-play receiver Devaughn Vele, dynamite tight ends Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid, and a decent 60% of last year’s offensive line starts.

Utah probably won’t field its best defense this year, but it shouldn’t be a liability. Six starters are gone, but the duo of end Van Fillinger and tackle Junior Tafuna up front, linebacker Gabe Reid (a Stanford transfer) and ace corners Clark Phillips III and Zemaiah Vaughn assure a level of star power. Sophomores, such as rover Karene Reid and safety Cole Bishop, could be ready for star turns. Line depth is a concern, but this should be a pretty typical Utah defense. Combining that with one of the best QBs in the country sounds like an awfully tantalizing combination.

espn.com article

[dystopiamembrane]

Burning questions

Will this be Whittingham’s best Utah team? Seventeen years ago, Urban Meyer left Utah for Florida; his defensive coordinator, Whittingham, a holdover from the Ron McBride era, stayed behind to pilot the ship. It’s safe to say he has done it well. The Utes went 13-0 in 2008 and earned a move from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011. After some stumbles, they’ve risen to the challenge, winning two South titles in the past four years and taking the Pac-12 crown last fall. They’ve done most of this without a great offense — from 2005 to ’18, the Utes averaged a 54.4 ranking in offensive SP+.

In 2019, however, Whittingham rediscovered his offensive soulmate: coordinator Andy Ludwig. Utah’s OC from 2005 to ’08, Ludwig developed some new tricks over time, and under his watch the Utes’ offense has ranked 16th, 30th and 14th the past three years. Starting with Utah’s 42-26 win over USC on Oct. 9, Rising, a Texas transfer, was the No. 5 quarterback in the FBS, per Total QBR, completing 65% of his passes and averaging 7.9 yards per non-sack carry. Utah averaged 39 points per game over its last 10. Rising is back, as are leading rusher Tavion Thomas, big-play receiver Devaughn Vele, dynamite tight ends Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid, and a decent 60% of last year’s offensive line starts.

Utah probably won’t field its best defense this year, but it shouldn’t be a liability. Six starters are gone, but the duo of end Van Fillinger and tackle Junior Tafuna up front, linebacker Gabe Reid (a Stanford transfer) and ace corners Clark Phillips III and Zemaiah Vaughn assure a level of star power. Sophomores, such as rover Karene Reid and safety Cole Bishop, could be ready for star turns. Line depth is a concern, but this should be a pretty typical Utah defense. Combining that with one of the best QBs in the country sounds like an awfully tantalizing combination.

espn.com article