This one really isn’t a surprise other than I figured it would probably come sooner. Good luck to Kenzel.

I’m really curious on this because there are a ton of options for defense and it’s a next to impossible choice for offense.

Harry Potter Concept Helmets

Just as AcrossTheGreen hinted at. He’ll have surgery tomorrow. Obviously, this one was expected, but the unfortunate hits just keep coming.

Here are the takeaways from the win… What a performance on the ground!…

https://utah.rivals.com/news/takeaways-no-16-utah-runs-past-cal

Cams Wikipedia page says he redhirted in 2018 in Texas and in 2019 in Utah. How does that work? The rules confuse me. There is the Covid year rule and a transfer. I think you can play in a maximum of 2 games and obtain a hardship waiver.

Is it theoretically possible for Cam to play next year???Someone please explain this to me.

#14 Utah +7 @ #18 USC. Total is 56, so expected score is roughly 31-24. If you take Utah, take the under, because I can't imagine us winning a shootout, but I can imagine us winning 24-21 or something like that.

Rest of the Pac-12:

ASU +28 @ #5 UW. Total is 59, so expected score is 43-15. ASU hasn't won many games (1-5), but they were within 14 of USC, 3 of Cal, and 3 of CU, so I think 28 is a huge line.
WSU +20 @ #9 UO. Total is 60, so expected score is 40-20. Honestly, Oregon should be happy this game is at 12:30, because this feels like a Pac-12 After Dark special upset waiting to happen.
#25 UCLA -17 @ Stanford. Total is 55, so expected score is 36-19. Depends on if Stanford just got lucky or if they figured stuff out.

Of the Pac-12 games, only the Utah/USC game is expected to be at all close this week, but UCLA/Stanford starts at 7:30, so keep an eye on that one.

Rest of the top 15:

#2 UM -24.5 @ MSU. Total is 48, so expected final is 36-12.
#7 PSU +4.5 @ #3 OSU. Total is 47, so expected final is 26-21.
#16 Duke +14 @ #4 FSU. Total is 49, so expected final is 32-18.
UCF +19.5 @ #6 OU. Total is an insane 65, so expected final is 42-23
#8 Texas -23 @ Houston. Total is 62, so expected final is 43-20
UVA +23.5 @ #10 UNC. Total is 56, so expected final is 40-16
#17 Tennessee +8.5 @ #11 Bama. Total is 47, so expected final is 28-20
#13 Ole Miss -6.5 @ Auburn. Total is 57, so expected final is 32-25.

PSU getting blown out by OSU might drop them into the teens, but probably still ahead of Utah unless we blow out USC, Vegas style. FSU losing to Duke won't help, Duke will jump us. Bama losing to Tennessee would probably help, as would Auburn beating Ole Miss.

Future Big 12 conference mates:

TTech -4.5 @ BYU. Yes, BYU is 4.5 point dogs AT HOME to a 3-4 Texas Tech team that lost to Wyoming. Total is 52, so expected final is 28-24. If BYU loses this game they're almost certainly not going bowling, with road games to Texas, WVU, and OKST plus home games against ISU and Oklahoma.
Baylor +2.5 @ Cincy. Total is 52, so expected score is 27-25. This is basically Vegas telling you these teams are roughly equal, with Baylor being maybe slightly better. FPI likes Cincy way more, with Baylor at 80 and Cincy at 45.
OKST +3.5 @ WVU. Total is 50, so expected score is 27-23. Again, basically equal with WVU slightly better. FPI has them roughly equal, with WVU at 42 and OKST at 47. Both of these teams have 1 AP vote right now, so the winner will move up in the "not actually ranked" rankings.
TCU +6.5 @ KSU. Total is 57, so expected score is 32-25. FPI actually has TCU at 24th and KSU at 19th, so they like these teams.

This should be a pretty easy list for Utah to beat, with his high school quarterback, Isaac Wilson heading to Utah.

https://x.com/jerome_myles6/status/1712894465441255631?s=46&t=rCeydSjlZpEXuJwsvf6X2A

The toughness of Coach Whittingham has been a foundational positive within the culture of Utah Football for so very long. Ironically in a way, that could be seen as backfiring to an almost unbelievable degree this season. It feels flukey, but what about with the amount of injuries this season and the chatter of an extremely physical and aggressive Fall Camp effecting those injuries?

Either way, this season could conceivably get away from Utah completely. It's not a stretch to consider. The criticism of Coach Whittingham bothers me. We defend Cam Rising from careless comments of disrespect from clown fans. I hope we do the same with Coach Whittingham even when we disagree with him. Please remember how great of a coach Kyle Whittingham is.

Negative finger pointing might increase. I am starting to think it's realistic that this team could lose 4 or 5 of the remaining 7 games. If so, I wouldn't be surprised to see the narrative of how Whittingham and the team doctors handled things increase in negative perception. We are seeing some of that here on Ute Nation, which has the most reasonable portion of people in our fanbase.

In the above scenario, could we see Coach Whittingham decide to retire at season's end as a result? He is ultra competitive and I know he wants Utah to transition strong into the BIG 12 but he might feel it's time to step away. It's a troubling thought for me to think of that possibility. Coach Whittingham is a legendary coach and going out that way would be heartbreaking.

Rising didn't just inform us of the serious extent of his knee injury, he also reiterated multiple times that he has the "best surgeon in the world" which opens up a possible divide with how the program has been handling Rising's injury (Whittingham and team doctors). Reading between the lines, Coach Whittingham has made comments indicating that he's frustrated with the Neal ElAttrache, Rising and Kuithe's surgeon.

Not that it will happen but IF things snowball and Utah finishes with only 6 or 7 wins this season and Coach Whittingham does retire, will Utah lose some key players to the portal and would Ludwig follow Whittingham into retirement?

With the stability that Utah has had for so long under Coach Whittingham (LEGEND), starting over under going into the BIG 12 would put Utah in a very tough spot.

The Utes have so many solid players committed to play next season! These guys just keep putting up big numbers.

Here's a breakdown of last week's performances:

I was watching the game tonight. I went upstairs to cook for the family when Colorado was up 29-0. I finished making some toasted bagel sandwiches with mounds of broken up strip steak compressed into the bagels with cream cheese. It was an 'on the fly' made up dinner. My sons scarfed them all down. I cleaned up the kitchen, poured a brewski and went downstairs. The TV was still on. First thing I notice was that Stanford was lining up for a FG with 5 seconds left in regulation and looking to send the game to overtime.

BOOM 💥 Game on! I sat down and joyfully watched Colorado lose in overtime.

Here’s what Whittingham had to say today:

-Vaki is special. They don’t want to burn him out, but it’s been welcome production. Don’t expect to see him getting started reps on offense, though.

-Bouwmeester wasn’t as good last game as he had been, so they need to get that back.

-Whittingham say they’re leading the conference in pass efficiency, which is what’s important. He doesn't just look at passing yards.

-Whittingham says he doesn’t want to whine about Bishop’s targeting ejection, but he’s still floored that the appeal got denied.

-Against Cal, the packages were for Vaki, not Johnson.

-Vaki’s move was partly out of necessity and partly out of trying to maximize the offense.

-McClain is a big-time athlete if he can stay healthy and be consistent in his practice.

-It continues to just be a waiting game with Cam and Kuithe.

-If it comes to it, medical redshirting for both of them is a possibility. Whittingham calls it a slam dunk. It used to be that if an initial redshirt was not due to injury, that it would be denied. That's not the case anymore.

-Whittingham called Caleb Williams one of the most talented players he’s ever faced at Utah.

-Koli Faaiu earned the starting shot at center over the bye week. They’re hoping to have Spencer Fano back for USC. Togiai did a great job though.

-O’Toole didn’t play a ton of reps, but he was disruptive. It was nice to have Fillinger back too.

-You win with the guys that you got. He likes his guys, but there obviously guys that would be huge to have back.

One could argue, the 5-1 start to this season represents his greatest accomplishment yet as a coach. The amouny of injuries is far beyond any level of comprehension, and the fact of the matter there are even more injuries to players that we don't even discuss. Z. Williams, D. Fotu, etc. In my view, he has exceeded all expectations given the circumstances.

I would love to see who you think will be behind center tomorrow for our beloved Utes...

If there is one thing I won't miss next year in the Big 12, it's the crappy PAC 12 officiating. Now I know that there will still be some bad calls but nothing can possibly be anywhere near as bad is the crap we have seen over the years that was on full display yesterday.

Bishop's hit was not targeting - the back of his shoulder pads hit the Cal player's face mask but the hit was absolutely clean. It was a shoulder hit to the mid-section.

Another bad call that really irked me was when they ruled Vele's catch of the tipped pass incomplete. What I saw on the big, beautiful screen in the SEZ was him securing the ball between his forearms; the tip of the ball touched the ground BUT it didn't move. If you watch the Washington-Oregon game, the Washington tight end, Westover, made a catch with 1:45ish left in the 1st half and a whole bunch of the ball touched the ground BUT it didn't move - his was ruled a catch. Can't stand the refs and the bad calls happen to us so often that it feels like they don't want little small market Utah to win. Let the big boys represent the conference.

What's your guys' take?

Halie hands out the game balls from the nice bounce-back victory:

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

Also, Oregon deservedly stays in the top 10…

https://x.com/ap_top25/status/1713616897441223131?s=46&t=rCeydSjlZpEXuJwsvf6X2A

Official Week 7 College Football Power Rankings

We are last in the PAC 12 at 297 YPG. Do we improve on that this week?

Game time! what are you hoping to see from the offense?

ESPN reporting Bryson Barnes is starting and Nate Johnson will play as a change of pace QB option

Here’s Cole’s keys to the game and the position battles:
https://utah.rivals.com/news/keys-and-position-battles-utah-vs-cal

With health on their side, I believe they can finish a little higher, but this is definitely fair:

https://x.com/utahmbb/status/1712110315792711751?s=46&t=rCeydSjlZpEXuJwsvf6X2A

Halie looks ahead to the weekend and reviews questions from the last game:

Will we see any significant improvement in our offense after the bye week and hopefully getting a few players back???