Utah
Op-Ed: Kyle Whittingham and Utah are where they want to be, respected but not hyped
In the current landscape of college football, Utah finds itself in a truly ideal situation. Most fans want to hear their team mentioned nationally with the usual customers. However, that typically is an indicator of national respect. If your team can be mentioned with the likes of Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Texas, Michigan and Oregon, you can rest easy that those outside your market recognize and show respect by putting them in that conversation. For Utah, searching for validation through that metric, at least for now, is not necessary.
In the latest ESPN top 25 rankings, the Utes are mentioned in fact with those names. Behind Georgia, Ohio State and Texas, but ahead of Michigan, Florida State and LSU. The respect factor is present. You can see it almost anywhere in major college football circles. Whether it’s the television networks, CFB reporters or platforms. Almost everywhere you look, Utah is getting the respect part without hesitation. Due in large part to the return of Cam Rising and a focused approach to the transfer portal.
Utah finds themselves in an advantageous position on the field before they ever take the field. They finished the last year’s campaign with a lower win total than expected. However, a large portion of that comes back to an offense that was not whole and didn’t have their preferred signal caller due to a knee injury. Prior to Rising being out, he led the Utes to back-to-back Pac-12 championships and an eventual Rose Bowl appearance.
Utah picked to win 2024 Big 12 Championship in preseason media poll
Even coming off their 8-5 finish, almost every national publication that puts out a preseason Top 25 ranking has Utah slotted above the 20th spot. Not to throw shade, but 247Sports is the only real outlier, ranking the Utes at 18th in the country. Every other big national outlet has Utah somewhere between 8th and 14th. Putting them right in that discussion with the best programs entering the 2024 season. It would also suggest making the 12-team College Football playoff is not an unrealistic goal.
The factor that Utes fans don’t have to contend with is the hype dynamic. The national media seems content to respect Utah from a distance, but has not moved into pumping them up or pushing a narrative like we see due east at Colorado. While it’s nice to be noticed, and nicer still to be feared, hype is not necessary to win. As a matter of fact, hype makes winning more difficult. It also inflates expectations to an unrealistic level.
When there is no hype, the expectations are what they are and typically remain unchanged. When you look around the country, there are plenty of teams that are operating against lofty or even unfair expectations due to that factor. Alabama doesn’t have Nick Saban, but the expectations are still set for the Alabama we’ve come to know over time. Oregon seems to keep moving the goalposts on themselves. After Georgia saw all 11 defensive starters get drafted, the expectation was the championship was theirs to lose. There are even a couple of teams that are basing their actual expectations on the hype aspect, which is a recipe for trouble.
Everyone in Salt Lake City and abroad rooting for the Utes should all enjoy this dynamic as one typically leads to the other. When teams are respected as a top 10 team at this juncture in the calendar, hype usually follows. Yet, for the most part, we aren’t hearing about where Rising ranks as an NFL draft prospect, what receiver will have 1,000 yards this year, or the damage Utah is going to do to the field once the season starts. All of which could prove to be true, but we aren’t hearing it. That’s the difference in where Utah is right now and where they don’t want to be. Kyle Whittingham’s team won’t be the Belle of the Ball before arriving. They want to be the one everyone isn’t paying attention to until it’s too late.
What separates Utah from other programs feeding into hype is that it doesn’t need to be more than they are. Some teams will have to be special to win games against teams viewed to be more consistently established. Utah just needs to be themselves. If health is not a massive concern, the season’s success should simply come down to whether they execute or not.
Utah opens the 2024 season at home against Southern Utah on Thursday, August 29.
Utah
5 vehicles hit exercise equipment on I-15 near Arizona-Utah border
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — Five vehicles collided with a piece of exercise equipment on I-15 near the Arizona-Utah border on Friday, according to Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire Department.
At around 7:30 p.m. on Jan. 9, fire personnel responded to an incident involving five vehicles on I-15 Southbound at Mile Marker 17. Crews arrived on scene to find “slightly used exercise equipment” in the middle of the road, officials said.
A total of 14 people were involved in the collisions, though only one was taken to the hospital, St. George Regional, as a result.
“Please drive defensively; Keep your eyes on the road,” a social media post from Beaver Dam/Littlefield Fire states.
No further information is available at this time.
Utah
Analysis: Utah’s fight was there against No. 9 BYU, but the little details cost Utes a shot at the upset
Utah couldn’t get enough defensive stops Saturday night against No. 9 BYU in the latest rivalry matchup at the Huntsman Center.
The Runnin’ Utes, though, made the Cougars work for the victory, even as a heavy underdog.
There are no moral victories in this bitter rivalry, but if Utah can show progress moving forward from BYU’s harder-than-expected 89-84 victory, this kind of effort won’t go in vain.
“I think it was, there was a lot of little things, a lot of game plan things, little details that I don’t know if we just forgot or didn’t pay attention to,” Utah first-year coach Alex Jensen said about what cost Utah against the Cougars.
“Down the stretch, we’ve talked about it for a while because we’re going to give up size to other teams, but giving up the offensive (boards), it’s hard to get a stop and then they get the offensive rebounds. It’s a hard thing to come back from, especially the last few minutes.”
Jensen lamented his team’s defensive effort against the Cougars multiple times in the postgame press conference — BYU was able to shoot 50% in the game, and the Cougars held a 41-33 rebounding edge.
Senior Richie Saunders, who had never beaten Utah in the Huntsman Center until Saturday, was especially destructive on the boards. He had 14, including six on the offensive end, and helped BYU have a 16-10 edge in offensive boards and 19-14 in second-chance points.
“It’s hard to give up 89 points and win, right?” Jensen said. “And if you look at all the good teams in college that win, (they) are the other teams that defend and rebound.”
Utah has made giving BYU headaches in the Huntsman a routine thing. Even though the Cougars are the program on the ascent, the Utes still won their last two games in the series played at the storied venue.
Utah even pumped some belief into the packed house multiple times over the course of the game that it could stun BYU again.
The Utes got out to a 7-0 start in the game, then matched BYU punch for punch in the first half before going into the break down two after a questionable foul call resulted in two free throws from AJ Dybantsa just before the half.
Though BYU eventually built a 13-point lead in the second half, the Utes fought back again and made it a one-possession game multiple times down the stretch.
That included cutting it to 81-80 on two Terrence Brown free throws with 3:15 to play.
Then, the Utes had a defensive stop in the final minute down three, but a costly turnover — just Utah’s ninth of the night — gave BYU the ball back with eight seconds remaining.
Two Saunders free throws followed that turnover from Brown, and with that, the Utes’ fight came up short.
Brown and Don McHenry showed up well in their introduction to the rivalry, as the dynamic scoring guards accounted for more than half of Utah’s points.
Brown had a game-high 25 points to go with five assists, three rebounds and two blocked shots, while McHenry had 21 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal.
“Coach was just just saying you should be excited to play in a game like this,” Brown said. “… It was just a good opportunity, and it was definitely exciting.”
Fifth-year forward James Okonkwo provided a spark in front of a raucous crowd, to the tune of 13 rebounds, four points and two assists.
“James has been great the last two games. It’s great because it leads us with a physicality and just his presence, and that’s kind of what we want from him as a fifth-year senior,” Jensen said.
“The last two games, he’s been great and hopefully we get that, that same James going forward.”
Speaking of the crowd, the Utes noticed just how much a packed house for the first time this season — call it the annual rivalry effect — brought an energy to an arena that is often far too quiet as Utah tries to rebuild a once-proud program.
“I think the MUSS did a really good job of, like energizing us. It was a different level of energy in the game today, and it was really encouraging,” Okonkwo said.
“We went out on a really good run to start the game, and you could just feel it. We were locked in and it was really fun.”
It wasn’t enough to best BYU’s Big 3. Dybantsa, the projected lottery pick, had 20 points, six rebounds and four assists, Saunders tossed in 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds (six offensive), while Rob Wright III added 23 points and six assists.
Can Utah learn from this game and take some lessons into the rest of Big 12 play?
Yes, the Utes are likely to lose the majority of their games the remainder of the season — they are the worst-ranked Big 12 team in the NET and KenPom, by a sizable margin — but Utah also showed that it’s progressing, even if incrementally.
“Honestly, like we have enough — we’re going to be so good when we clean up just a little mistakes,“ Okonkwo said. ”Honestly, that’s my opinion.
“That’s what (coach) was kind of harping on about in the locker room, just staying consistent. Just get better every day.”
Utah
Utah Jazz Run Into Familiar Face vs Charlotte Hornets
As the Utah Jazz look to take on the Charlotte Hornets for their second of two meetings for the season, it’ll mark the first time that a familiar face, Collin Sexton, returns to the Delta Center since his offseason trade to the East Coast.
Earlier in this past offseason, Sexton was sent to the Hornets along with a pair of future second-round picks in exchange for veteran center Jusuf Nurki. It was a deal that was a bit criticized from Utah’s perspective upon initially going down, but in the time since, has seen both players find their way into notable roles with their new squads.
While Nurkic is listed as questionable to suit up for the action against his former team, Sexton seems ready to go against his, and could even start back in Utah after having previously done so in the Hornets’ latest game against the Indiana Pacers; a game they fell short in 112-114.
So, not only will Sexton be looking for a bounce-back win off a loss, but he could have an extra chip on his shoulder to perform well against his former team as well.
Collin Sexton Returns to Utah as Jazz Take on Hornets
Sexton was a part of the Jazz for three seasons from 2022 to 2025 after initially coming aboard as a part of the extensive Donovan Mitchell and Lauri Markkanen trade as a sign-and-trade acquisition, and for the tenure that he was in Salt Lake City, was a pretty significant part of the roster––playing a total of 189 games, starting in 120 of them.
In that time, Sexton averaged 17.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists while shooting 48.8% from the field and 39.8% from three, being a consistent offensive piece in the backcourt next to a growing Keyonte George and, at the time, his fellow veteran guard, Jordan Clarkson.
However, the Jazz, during their latest offseason, made the inevitable shift to focus on their young talent in place of Sexton after three good years of being a core rotational piece, sending him to Charlotte for his third team since being drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2018.
Since being in Charlotte, Sexton has remained about as steady as he was in Utah––averaging 15.2 points a night on 48.3% from the field, paired with 2.0 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, filling in once again as a valuable locker room add and veteran teammate to help bring along the Hornets’ developing roster.
Last time he went up against the Jazz, it was on his new home floor in Charlotte, making for a pretty brutal game from the Jazz, as they were blown out by Sexton and the Hornets, 103-126 at the beginning of November, which also made for the first time Utah was without Walker Kessler after he was ruled out for the season due to shoulder surgery on a torn labrum.
The Jazz will try and even up their season series, looking a bit different from that two-month span, and will be forced to do so without the services of Lauri Markkanen (rest) and Ace Bailey (hip), thus giving a brighter green light for Keyonte George to have another explosive night scoring the ball, this time against his former teammate.
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