The Utes have two guys committed and last night I was told both are expected sign:

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Johnson will be going on an LDS mission, but Katoa will not. After today, Utah will re-evaluate around April to put out additional SERIOUS offers to recruits.

Hey, wanted to give you all a heads-up about two big high school football matchups to keep an eye on tomorrow.

At 11am, Skyridge is playing American Fork. One of Utah's most recent commitments, ATH Davis Andrews, does a little bit of everything for the Cavemen.
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At 2:30pm, Lehi is playing Corner Canyon. Utah commits QB Isaac Wilson, DE/TE Kash Dillon, and OL Ike Garcia are all a big part of why the Chargers have gone this far in the playoffs.
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If American Fork and Corner Canyon both win, they'll play each other in the 6A championship.

You can stream the games on the KSL Sports: https://kslsports.com/stream/

This isn’t a scholarship, but it’s an important get:

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Patriotic College Football Helmets

Halie recaps the Arizona State win and looks at the big match up at Washington:

Jackson has been the 2023 Offensive foundation and the remaining trifecta piece (Rising, Kuithe and Ja'Quinden) from the Back to Back PAC 12 Championships.

You NEVER count JJ out by looking at him to examine him playing. He ALWAYS brings it %110! He could be Superman next week but most important now is having Utah medical looking out for the best health interest of the athlete.

Again, JJ is the last MAN last standing from the BIG 3 that won two straight PAC 12 Championships. I honestly have anxious concern about the relative unknown ramifications here. I hope for the best 🙏

A reminder that well, it’s official, Johnson will serve a mission first.

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Here’s the week 9 PFF grades:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/inside-the-numbers-utah-s-week-9-pff-grades

For the curious, the teams still likely in the running for the final Pac-12 Championship Game are Washington (6-0), Oregon (5-1), USC (5-2), Arizona, ORST, and Utah (4-2). It might still be mathematically possible for UCLA (3-3) to make the game, but I don't want to figure out what that would take. The remaining games for the six actually contending teams are as follows:

#5 UW- #13 Utah, @ #12 ORST, WSU
#6 Oregon- USC, @ ASU, #12 ORST
USC- @ #6 Oregon, UCLA
#23 Arizona- @ Colorado, #13 Utah, @ ASU
#12 ORST- Stanford, #5 UW, #6 Oregon
#13 Utah- @ #5 UW, @ #23 Arizona, Colorado

For Utah, people beating Oregon is good for us, but we can't end up in a 2-way tie with either Oregon or ORST, so the best thing for us is that Oregon makes the game at 8-1 and that ORST loses a game and UW loses to Utah and someone else.

So best scenario this week: Utah wins (necessary), USC/Oregon doesn't matter, but probably best if Oregon wins, CU wins, Stanford wins.

There is also a good 3-way tie for Utah with Oregon, if USC beats Oregon and then beats UCLA, and both Oregon and Utah win out otherwise, the 3-way tie would be Utah/USC/Oregon (all at 7-2 and 1-1 against each other). The first tiebreaker is record against the other tied teams, which remains tied. Then it's record against all common opponents. Those opponents are CU, UW, Cal, ASU. In this scenario, Utah would be 4-0 and both Oregon and USC would be 3-1 (both losing to UW). That would put Utah in the title game for a rematch against UW

Here are the takeaways from last night season opener. Plenty to like. Lets hear everyone else’s takeaways, as well…

https://utah.rivals.com/news/takeaways-runnin-utes-demolish-eastern-washington

Let’s get this season rollin’!

Matt recaps the past week for the future Utes:

How it took this long, I have no clue.

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-High praise for Washington and that offense. Whittingham says they can’t just play good, they have to play their best to beat them.

-Said Saturday was Barnes’ best game as a Ute.

-They’ll run the no-huddle offense when they feel it can keep a defense on their toes, but you need to be selective so it won’t be constantly.

-They’re hoping Ja’Quiden can play against Washington. It’ll be something they need to monitor throughout the week. Whittingham won’t give away the game plan though.

-Dijon Stanley’s role at RB will continue to increase. They like what he’s shown in practice. Same with Smith Snowden, who got an extended opportunity on Saturday and did really well. Nickelback will be his spot going into 2024 and Tao Johnson will either be at free safety or outside corner.

-Whittingham mentioned the recruiting numbers are somewhat by design. Portal is a big focus this season.

-The position coaches have to have conversations with players throughout the season about what things are looking like for after the season and the next year because once the portal opens, things happen so fast.

I've been told he will end up making a choice between USC and Utah in his recruitment:

A Utes mention in here with 4-star USC WR commit, Xavier Jordan…

https://n.rivals.com/news/recruiting-rumor-mill-chatter-kicks-into-high-gear-after-huge-weekend

Week 11 Football Power Rankings

Either Washington is now set to have a nice win to pad their CFP resume, or Utah is going to get a win to potentially jump them back in the Top 10. I definitely wasn’t expecting a 5 spot jump, but that’s welcome news on a Sunday.

https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll

It's game day!

The Utes and the Sun Devils have a couple of the best defenses in the Pac-12. It will be interesting to see which offense can get things going today.

It's perfect weather for a football game, especially in November.

For those of you that can't make it to the game, this is the thread you'll want to keep an eye on.

Our games balls for the dominating performance yesterday.

https://utah.rivals.com/news/game-balls-utah-vs-arizona-state

Star Wars Concept College Football Helmets

Jayden Daniels just got decapitated and it's not targeting? Nate Ritchie was booted for a fraction of that.

Does anybody know if the shirt Kyle wore for his post game press conference has any connection to Bryson for NIL purposes? I want one.

LINK: A look at what the Utes are getting in the No. 73-ranked Johnson, who will do his two year mission before joining the program.