It’s an early one!… BUT, let’s get this thing rollin’.

Still a lot of injuries, but but the Utes are getting healthier. Barnes gets the start, again. Bernard is unfortunately out, again, more when the time is right. I don’t expect Karene Reid to go today, as more if a precaution and knowing that group is stacked. Junior Tafuna should be good too.

Baylor had a brutal first game and is in the same boat as Utah with being beat up—one being at QB. The Bears’ defense is a gigantic weakness right now, while Utah’s is one of the best in the country. It’ll be a pissed off Baylor team, but even with Utah’s injuries I expect a comfortable win.

Let's discuss some hard earned game balls for that win over Baylor:

Despite a handful of mistakes and waiting until the fourth quarter to make necessary adjustments, Nate Johnson was the spark the Utes needed to make the comeback official, and the defense did just enough for Utah to return to Salt Lake City 2-0 with everything still to play for….

https://utah.rivals.com/news/takeaways-defense-and-qb-change-lead-utah-to-comeback-win

Most would find it difficult leaving on a mission as a starter and then coming back to a stacked room where you have to wait your turn. However, Sione Fotu has the right mindset.

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utes-fotu-back-and-ready-for-whatever-role

Cole and Baylor publisher Nolan Ruth discuss Baylor and the game ahead:

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Looks to be toasty early in Waco.

Mimosas and Bloody Marys are on the menu... and I'm on the east coast, but generally don't get up before noon after a lifetime of night shift...

Cole has the keys to the game and the position battles. Let us know if you agree or disagree:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/keys-and-position-battles-utah-vs-baylor

So here are this week's lines for all the Pac-12 teams, all the 2024 Big 12 teams, and all the ranked teams.

First, the Pac-12:
#12 Utah (-7.5) @ Baylor. This opened at 7, got bet down to 6.5, and then back up to 7.5 (probably because of the Baylor QB news). One book has Utah -8.
Nebraska (+2.5) @ #22 CU. A month ago Nebraska was a 7.5 point favorite. After the CU game Saturday morning, Nebraska was a 2.5 point favorite. All the money's been on CU since then, going from a 2.5 point Nebraska favorite to a 2.5 point CU favorite.
Tulsa (+34.5) @ #8 UW. This should be a gimme. It actually opened at 37.5, so everyone's been betting on Tulsa, but that's just because the number is so huge (only Murray St. @ Louisville, Ball St. @ UGA, Kent St. @ Arkansas, and UNLV @ Michigan have bigger lines this week)
#13 Oregon (-6.5) @ TTech. This opened with Oregon a 7.5 point favorite, but was bet down to 6.5 fairly quickly.
UCLA (-14.5) @ SDSU. This opened at 13.5 and got bet up earlier today.
#19 Wisconsin (-6.5) @ WSU. This opened Wisky by 4.5 and all the money's been on them, despite them struggling with Buffalo.
Arizona (+9.5) @ Miss. St. This opened MSU by 18.5 but all the money's been on Arizona after they destroyed NAU. I'm not sure why, since MSU also destroyed their FCS opener, but I suspect it's because the books thought Arizona was going to be terrible, and they looked at least competent.
OKST (-3.5) @ ASU. Opened OKST -4.5 because OKST struggled with C. Arkansas while ASU struggled with SUU.
Stanford (+29.5) @ #6 USC. Opened USC -30.5 but that's a big line so it's gone down a little bit.
Auburn (-6.5) @ Cal. Opened Auburn -5.5 and was bet up to 6.5 quickly.
UCD @ #16 OR ST. No line for FCS games.

The 2024 Big 12:
Iowa -4 @ IA ST. IA ST was a 1.5 point favorite back in May, then it went to Iowa in June and has slowly increased from 1.5 to 3.5 or 4.0 right now.
Cincinnati (+7.5) @ Pittsburgh. This opened Pitt -3.5 but was up to -7 by noon.
Houston (-10) @ Rice. Opened at 8.5 and then went up to 9.5 on Tuesday and then up to 10.
Illinois (+3) @ Kansas. Opened at 1.5 and bounced around a bunch before landing on 3 late Monday morning.
Troy (+16.5) @ #15 KSU. Opened at 15.5 and has bounced around between that and 16.5 all week.
UCF (-3.5) @ Boise. Opened at 1.5 and has moved up, getting to 3.5 on Tuesday morning.
SUU @ BYU. No line for FCS games.
Nicholls @ TCU. No line for FCS games.
Duquesne @ WVU. No line for FCS games.

The rest of the top 15:
Ball St. (+43.5) @ #1 UGA. This would be an insane upset.
UNLV (+36.5) @ #2 Michigan. So would this
#11 Texas (+7) @ #3 Alabama. Texas getting blown out will make room for Utah to move up. Doesn't have to be huge, 10 points is probably enough.
S. Miss (+31) @ #4 FSU. This would also be a huge upset.
Youngstown St. @ #5 OSU. No lines for FCS games.
Delaware @ #7 PSU. No lines for FCS games.
Austin Peay @ #9 Tennessee. No lines for FCS games
#10 Notre Dame (-7.5) @ NCSU. NCSU could win this if they play well. That would give Utah another spot to move up.
Grambling @ #14 LSU. No lines for FCS games.

Want some insight on why Baylor lost to Texas State last week? Want to know what the Utes are up against when they travel to Waco this week to face the Bears?

I've got an in-depth article with all the information you want to know about the Utes next opponent, the Baylor Bears.

If you haven't already, check it out!

UteNation - Scouting the Baylor Bears

Baylor followed up one of its most successful seasons in school history in 2021, where…

utah.rivals.com

Congrats to him! This took until after the Florida game. It’s well deserved, but it’s also not a surprise that it hadn’t been done yet because spring ball made it seem like he’d potentially fall to QB4. Injuries create opportunities and he took advantage of not jut the recent Brandon Rose injury, but also the injury Nate Johnson had in spring ball.

What do Joe’s numbers say for this week? Give it a read:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/statistically-speaking-utah-vs-baylor

1. Cam Rising - I doubt we see him this week.
2. Brant Kuithe - Same, even though he's from Texas and this is a homecoming of sorts.
3. Junior Tafuna - No idea what his situation is.
4. Simote Pepa - same
5. Johnny Maea - same
6. Connor O'Toole - same

Not a starter but didn't play

7. Chris Curry - Don't know what his health situation is.
8. Chase Kennedy - same
9. Landen King - I assume he was hurt since we're already one man down at TE with Kuithe out.
10 Justin Medlock - if healthy, we would have seen him some after Karene Reid went out.

Guys who played a bit even though banged up
8. Van Filinger
9. JaQuinden Jackson
10 Karene Reid - Almost certainly was in concussion protocol withing the first two minutes of the game. Not sure what his status is for this week.

The guys discuss Baylor, with Joe looking at his number metrics and Matt bringing the human angle along with interesting trends he’s seen:

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That was an awesome performance against the Gators.

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Halie answers last week’s questions and looks ahead to the Baylor matchup:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/burning-questions-utes-head-into-week-2-1

Here’s how the guys graded out with PFF for Week 1:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/inside-the-numbers-utah-week-1-pff-grades

Women’s BB added Jeff Judkins as Assist for player development & community relations.

Great move.

6 USC (Stayed same)
8 Washington (Moved up 3)
12 Utah (Moved up 2)
13 Oregon (Moved up 2)
18 Oregon (Same. Baffling)
25 Colorado

I’ll post the whole thing when I come across it.

Nate Johnson- if his arm ever catches up to his legs he will be a rich man.
Spencer Fano- had some rough patches as you would expect. But starting game one at LT as a true freshman is very encouraging as to what his future looks like.
Mikey Mathews - caught everything thrown his way. Looked good with the ball in his hands.
Mycah Pittman- bit of a rough night. But only one game.
Suguturaga - productive night at his new home at TE.
Cole Baxter - significant upgrade at K.
Logan Fano - held his own as a freshman.
Keanu Tanuvasa- he’s going to be a problem for our opponents.
Levani Damuni- thanks Stanford. HS a nose for the ball.
Tao Johnson- excellent speed, reliable tackler, impressed with his fearlessness in defending the run.
Sione Vaki- not a newcomer but he is a big time baller.

Here’s how the 2024 Utah commits did over the weekend:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/tracking-utah-2024-commit-games-andrews-dominates

It should have been fixed years ago and it often times gets worse. Why does this keep happening? It's inexcusable and embarrassing.

Just provide enough mics and match the volume of the media just enough to hear the questions and peak Coach Whittingham's voice just above that.

It would be more enjoyable to listen to the post game and press conferences without all of the vast faint levels and inconsistencies from within the entire media questions process. It's not just the media and then Kyle on the podium. Before coach gets there, the players have uneven mic levels all across the podium.

Also, the content being put out on the University of Utah Athletics site is miniscule. There isn't near enough content in comparison to other legitimate programs.

More than anything, first the football post game audio and press conferences need to provide us decent audio. Who will fix this? Judas Priest!

Any report on how Brooks Bahr’s on campus visit went and where we stand with him?