Here’s my article on wide receiver prospect JeyQuan Smith:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/utah-official-visit-impresses-wr-smith-1

Four-star SF Keanu Dawes announced Rice this morning. Turns out, Utah had a negative they couldn’t control. I’ve heard Dawes’ mom didn’t want him near his dad and his dad lives in the SLC area.

Halie answers last week’s burning questions and looks ahead to the Utes’ matchup against USC:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/burning-questions-utes-head-into-week-7

Here’s the PFF grades for the Utes against UCLA. A lot of of toughs to look at:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/inside-the-numbers-utah-s-pff-grades-vs-ucla

42 points with only 22 first downs means that there are a lot of big plays going on.

He acknowledged that they missed a lot of tackles.

Whittingham thought the offense did well for the most part. Although, you’d expect more points with their high amount of yardage. They were 3-4 in the red zone and still only scored 25 offensive points with all of that yardage.

They only had 10 possessions and didn’t maximize them.

Special teams, the kickoff coverage was a negative. Gave them good field position, which had been a big negative this season.

USC will be a big challenge. They’ll come at Utah with a lot of 4 wide receiver sets.

Utah went with a Cover 2 hybrid that they thought would be effective against UCLA—trying to confuse DTR, give him different looks, and ores-snap false indicators.

The team is in a similar situation to last year at this point in time, so he’ll see how this group responds.

Run defense has been the issue this season, not pass defense.

They went away from Tavion in the second half because they were playing catch-up and also because Tavion was a little tired, because he’s still out of shape. He’s been much better with his accountability. This time last year was when he really started to break out.

Whittingham shot down the idea that this defense isn’t what they’re used to. He mentioned they’ve had two really bad games and four really good ones.

Whittingham likes USC's front four on defense. They’re leading the nation in sacks and can really get after the quarterback. Secondary is athletic.

Whittingham won’t say if Yassmin is good to go or not. It’s a day-to-day thing.

Four catches by Kincaid is not enough. He hasn’t been as big of a focal point of the offense as he needs to be. Vele is another that needs more targets. However, he was happy with the production of Cope, Parks, and Bernard.

Whittingham is happy that the offense is fourth in the Pac-12 in total offense.

Whittingham wants every kickoff to be a touchback. Said they way they’re doing it now, they’re better off kicking it out of bounds and letting opponents start at the 35. (He doesn’t mince any words about it. You can tell he’s not happy about it.)

He gave the offensive line a B+ grade on the season. Been pretty productive so far.

USC had a deep and talented WR corps. Maybe the best in the country.

The lack of pressure from the Utah defense is concerning.

Ja’Quinden is still in the top 4 RB mix. As things progress, he hopes JJ can be much more of a factor. Tavion is back to getting the bulk of the Carrie’s.

Talking about penalties, Whittingham freely admits the roughing the passer penalty killed the momentum they had. He’s quick to acknowledge that it wasn’t the sole reason they lost.

The USC success is showing how important the transfer portal is. It’s either a quick fix or a quick deterrent for teams.

Whittingham made a comment that the top 25 NIL schools (money wise) will start mirroring the top 25 teams on the field in the country.

When asked about Lincoln Riley, Kyle Whittingham talked about money

Dawes was here a week ago on a visit, basically doubling up and visiting BYU, too. He’s announcing his decision on Tuesday. He’s raken trips to Utah, BYU, Rice, and Texas A&M.

I’m going to try again to reach out to him.

Rough performance today. Here are the takeaways from the game. Let’s hear everyone else’s takeaways too.

https://utah.rivals.com/news/takeaways-no-18-ucla-upsets-no-11-utah

Let’s get this thing rollin’!!

A Tavion note… I’ve heard he’s improving with his attitude and accountability. Let’s hope that last, but I do know he’s acknowledged to some close to him that he’s letting you the team down and letting himself down. Actions speak louder than words though and he’s trying.

Here are today’s position battles:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/position-battles-utah-at-ucla-1

Let’s take a deep dive on the UCLA Bruins:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/inside-the-numbers-ucla-1

One of the best games of the week:

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Hey everyone! Slower turnaround on my stuff this week, big conference in my day job. =]
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Big movers were Utah, UCLA, and Oregon. USC lost still more ground as missing Washington looks like less of a good thing and playing UCLA on the road is looking like a real tough draw. Washington's collapse isn't a surprise. Cal and Washington State traded places as the longshot in the old north after WSU worked 'em over on Saturday.

Here's my look at UCLA. To me, this coud be a shoot out of a game: https://utah.rivals.com/news/opponent-preview-ucla-11

How did the Utes fair last week and what are the big questions for the UCLA game?: https://utah.rivals.com/news/burning-questions-utes-head-into-week-6

It’s a battle of two ranked teams, so what do Joseph’s numbers say this week?…

https://utah.rivals.com/news/statistically-speaking-utah-at-ucla-1

Here’s Sean’s UCLA preview:

https://utah.rivals.com/news/opponent-preview-ucla-11

Vegas isn't buying #18 UCLA quite yet, with #11 Utah opening at -1 and up to -4 or -4.5 across the board.

Vegas IS buying #6 USC, they're a 13-point favorite over WSU (although that's come down from it's opening at 14)

I'm not sure if Vegas thinks ASU is improving, but they have UW only 13.5 over ASU, although it is in Phoenix.

#12 Oregon are only 13-point favorites over Arizona, also at Arizona.

OSU is 7-point favorites over Stanford.

Cal and CU are on byes this week.

Other lines of note:

The ND/BYU line looks strange, but isn't that weird. It technically opened at ND favored by about 9, but those were pre-season odds. The odds that opened this week were about ND -2.5 and it's stabilized right now at ND favored by about 3.5.

#1 Bama is favored by 24 over ATM at home
#2 UGA is favored by 29 over Auburn at home
#3 OSU is favored by 26 @ MI ST
#4 Michigan is favored by 22 @ Indiana
#5 Clemson is favored by 20 @ BC
#7 OK ST is favored by 9 over Texas Tech at home
#8 Tennessee has a bye
#9 Ole Miss is favored by 18 @ Vanderbilt
#10 Penn St has a bye
#13 Kentucky is favored by 10 against S. Carolina at home
#14 NCSU is on bye
#15 Wake Forest is favored by 17 against Army at home

Clark Phillips III Named Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week

Sophomore comes away with three interceptions vs. Beavers


NEW HAVEN, Conn. – University of Utah Football starting cornerback Clark Phillips III has been named Walter Camp National FBS Defensive Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in Utah's 42-16 win over Oregon State.

Phillips is one of six Utes to earn Walter Camp National Player of the Week honors since 2004, and the first since 2016 (Hunter Dimick).

The Lakewood, Calif., native continues to prove he is one of the best cornerbacks in the country, coming away with three of Utah's four interceptions against the Beavers, which included a pick-six (38 yards), along with three tackles in the game. His three picks are the most in a game by an FBS player this season, also tying for second all-time at Utah in single-game interceptions.

His first interception of the game came on Oregon State's first drive, picking off the Beaver's quarterback on a first-and-10 from their own 44-yard line, returning it to the 19 to set Utah up for its first touchdown. With the game tied at 7-7 with 7:37 to go in the first quarter, Phillips would come up big once more, reading the play perfectly on a second-and-10, intercepting the ball and returning it 38 yards to the end zone to give Utah the 14-7 lead.

Phillips's final interception of the game came in the fourth quarter on a second-and-five at the Utah five-yard line. The sophomore out-jumped the Beaver wide receiver in the corner of the end zone, coming down with the ball for his third interception, giving Utah possession back with 7:16 to go in the game.

His three interceptions was the most in a game by a Ute since 2009 (Robert Johnson vs. Colorado State), bringing his season total to four, which is tied for first nationally. He has seven career interceptions with three pick-sixes, including two that have some this season.

His three career interceptions returned for touchdowns is the second-most by an active player in the FBS this season, also leading all active players in the Pac-12.

NEXT UP
The Utes will hit the road to Pasadena, Calif., to take on the UCLA Bruins on Saturday, Oct. 8, kicking off at 1:30 p.m. MT. The game will air on FOX.

Hope y'all are getting excited! The consequential games are finally coming. No surprises and limited changes in one of the lowest-interest weeks in the schedule, in terms of toss-up games. Washington-UCLA has shifted full attention to the cluster of power in the South, with Utah's upcoming slate of games promising to resolve much of the uncertainty about the conference pecking order.

It’s a four team race between Utah usc Oregon and ucla.

The Washington schools will have a say in who plays in LV. Washington the best schedule missing 2 of the top 4.

the beavers don’t have enough at the qb position. Cal is getting better but not there yet. Ditto for Arizona.

colorado, asu and Stanford are bottom feeders.

Along with JeyQuan Smith, Utah also had a mystery recruit, who is Pitt wide receiver commit, Daidren Zipperer. I’ll try and follow up with him, as well.

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