Mark this down right now.
Utah this season will qualify for the College Football Playoff. And not just that, the Utes will play host to a first-round playoff game at home. Picture the madness that will ensue at Rice-Eccles on that occasion.
Do more than just picture it, expect it, write it in the color of blood, the color of crimson.
It’s Utah’s destiny. And, as all deep ruminators know, destiny cannot be controlled. It’s often mistakenly spoken as though it can be. But it cannot. It’s a definition of terms. It just … is. Think of it in the past tense, as though it’s already happened. That’s destiny, and Utah’s is to win a great majority of its games this season, many of them easily, a couple of them barely.
It is what it is.
That’s not the pronouncement of some honk of a hometown writer. Emotion, nor love, has got nothing to do with it. Truth is, I couldn’t care less. This has nothing to do with cheering for the Utes or hoping they do what they do. It’s a matter of fact. And it’s not to say the Utes won’t have to put in the work. It’s to say they will.
Kyle Whittingham in the far reaches of the past has made a habit of having his team play the role of the poor, disrespected underdog, as though the world is against the Utes, leaving them with so much hill to climb, so much to prove, straight into the teeth of so many doubters and disbelievers.
Now, that’s impossible to do.
If Whittingham attempted it, it would be seen as some kind of joke.
He can’t do it with a straight face, not anymore.
The Utes are too talented, too coached up, too deep for any such nonsense, and darn-near everyone, inside and outside the program, knows it. That’s why the prediction here is shared by others, that Utah will either edge toward or blow past double-figure wins, qualify for the Big 12 championship game, and even if for some unforeseen reason the Utes don’t win it, they still could get into the playoff.
Everyone respects Utah football, as everyone should. Yeah, the Utes have lost some bowl games. They may not live in the same cul-de-sac as Georgia, Alabama and Ohio State, but they do live just around the corner, a few houses down, and that will become more evident in 2024.
That’s both a tribute to what Whittingham has accomplished, what he has built, and the fact that the Utes have a favorable league schedule in their first run through the Big 12.
Most of their toughest games are at home, a place where Utah is about as hard to beat in their own confines as any team in the country. The home conference slate includes Baylor, Arizona, TCU, BYU, and Iowa State. Their most difficult road game will be their first one — at Oklahoma State. Thereafter, the thing goes like this — Arizona State, Houston, Colorado, and UCF.
Note that the Utes will not face Kansas State or Kansas in their initial Big 12 regular season.
There is the worthwhile consideration that it’s not uncommon for anyone or any team that does something for the first time for that unfamiliarity to bring alongside some discomfort, and the Utes will feel that now and again. They’re bound to screw up a thing or two en route.
That happened for different reasons even in Utah’s later Pac-12 seasons, when they dropped games early and were forced to fight back, overcome adversity and power through. The key to that sentence are the last two words. Powering through is something Utah football has mastered.
The exception to that is a big part of what happened to the Utes last season, when injuries swamped them. They were gone with the bend. If that were to happen again this season, they would be gone again.
Destiny can be a cruel mother. Especially in a sport like football, where as a matter of routine ligaments get torn, knees get blown, heads get concussed, joints get dissed. Any team is vulnerable when the two most important players on it are a veteran quarterback and a tight end who have seen more than their share of surgical tables and rehab schedules.
But that’s a reason why embraceable destiny leans different this time and stands firm. Those shares have been previously filled. There’s no more space for doctors doing their work on guys like Cam Rising and Brant Kuithe. Watch what those guys can do when health and the fates favor them. Besides, only a deviant soul would predict injury for guys who have worked that diligently, have been that motivated to get back on the field. And, yes, NIL money helps in that regard.
So destiny — and we haven’t even mentioned defense — this time smiles on the Utes. Mark it down. Write it in red.
Unless it’s not, Utah’s headed, with a bump or two, to a championship season, and a spot in the CFB Playoff. And Rice-Eccles Stadium will rock and roll as and when it happens.