Utah
Predictions, picks for Utah vs. Colorado Week 9 college football game
The Utah football team returns to Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday for a Big 12 matchup against Colorado.
The third all-time meeting between Kyle Whittingham and Deion Sanders comes a week after the Utes fell to BYU in a physical and tightly-contested affair between in-state rivals.
Following its second loss of the season, Utah will look to get back on track against a Colorado squad that’s entering the matchup with some momentum following its first Big 12 win over Iowa State two weeks ago.
“We got to be at our best and be ready,” Whittingham said regarding Saturday’s contest. “I know they’re 3-4, but the combined record of those four losses of the teams they played is 25-3. They played some really good teams, and so they are much better football team than their record indicates.”
As prognosticators send in their picks for Saturday’s matchup, let’s see how a few experts foresee the next installment of the Rumble in the Rockies rivalry game playing out.
Jeremy Cluff of the Arizona Republic predicts the Utes will “get revenge” for the Buffaloes’ trouncing them at Folsom Field last season in a 49-24 win for Sanders and company with a double-digit win of their own on Saturday.
Of course, both sides look much different than when they last met. Liberty transfer Kaidon Salter has taken the helm under center for Colorado and is surrounded by Tulsa product Joseph Williams and third-year wideout Omarion Miller on the outside. Those two account for nearly 50% of the Buffaloes’ production through the air and rank in the top 20 in the Big 12 in receiving yards. Miller paces with 371, while Williams has 370.
Utah, meanwhile, has turned to junior quarterback Devon Dampier to lead one of the most potent rushing attacks in the country. Utah averages 245 yards on the ground per game — good enough for sixth-best in the Football Bowl Subdivision — with its dual-threat quarterback pacing the team with 442 rush yards through seven games (63.1 per contest).
Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon has Utah picking up its seventh consecutive home win over Colorado by a margin of 14 points. All five of the Utes’ victories this season have come in double-digit fashion.
ESPN’s matchup predictor has been more favorable to the Utes since the start of the season, and that trend continues heading into their Week 9 matchup against the Buffaloes. Utah has a win probability rate of 83.3% according to ESPN’s advanced algorithm.
Utah, which was only favored in five of its 12 regular-season games heading into the 2025 campaign, according to ESPN analytics, is the favorite to win in all five of its remaining regular season games.
Bill Connelly’s SP+ model, a tempo- and opponent-adjusted measurement of college football efficiency, predicts Utah will win comfortably over Colorado when they meet on the field Saturday.
Connelly’s metrics-based formulas have accurately predicted the winner in five of Utah’s seven games so far this season, with the exception being its losses to Texas Tech and BYU.
Odds Shark’s computer projections have Utah cruising to a 21-point win over Colorado on Saturday. That would be the Utes’ widest margin of victory over the Buffaloes since coming away with a 63-21 win in their 2022 matchup in Boulder, Colorado. If that prediction holds true, it would also be Utah’s sixth win of 20 or more points this season.
MORE UTAH NEWS & ANALYSIS
Utah
Utah man dies of injuries sustained in avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A man died after he was caught in an avalanche in Big Cottonwood Canyon over the weekend.
A spokesperson for the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on Thursday that Kevin Williams, 57, had died.
He, along with one other person, was hospitalized in critical condition after Saturday’s avalanche in the backcountry.
MORE | Big Cottonwood Canyon Avalanche
In an interview with 2News earlier this week, one of Williams’ close friends, Nate Burbidge, described him as a loving family man.
“Kevin’s an amazing guy. He’s always serving, looking for ways that he can connect with others,” Burbidge said.
A GoFundMe was set up to help support Williams’ family.
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Utah
911 recordings detail hours leading up to discovery of Utah girl, mother dead in Las Vegas
CONTENT WARNING: This report discusses suicide and includes descriptions of audio from 911 calls that some viewers may find disturbing.
LAS VEGAS — Exclusively obtained 911 recordings detail the hours leading up to the discovery of an 11-year-old Utah girl and her mother dead inside a Las Vegas hotel room in an apparent murder-suicide.
Addi Smith and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, lived in West Jordan and had traveled to Nevada for the JAMZ cheerleading competition.
The calls show a growing sense of urgency from family members and coaches, and several hours passing before relatives learned what happened.
MORE | Murder-Suicide
Below is a timeline of the key moments, according to dispatch records. All times are Pacific Time.
10:33 a.m. — Call 1
After Addi and her mother failed to appear at the cheerleading competition, Addi’s father and stepmother called dispatch for a welfare check.
Addi and her mother were staying at the Rio hotel. The father told dispatch that hotel security had already attempted contact.
“Security went up and knocked on the door. There’s no answer or response it doesn’t look like they checked out or anything…”
11:18 a.m. and 11:27 a.m. — Calls 2 and 3
As concern grew, Addi’s coach contacted the police two times within minutes.
“We think the child possibly is in imminent danger…”
11:26 a.m. — Call 4
Addi’s stepmother placed another call to dispatch, expressing escalating concern.
“We are extremely concerned we believe that something might have seriously happened.”
She said that Tawnia’s car was still at the hotel.
Police indicated officers were on the way.
2:26 p.m. — Call 5
Nearly three hours after the initial welfare check request, fire personnel were en route to the scene. It appeared they had been in contact with hotel security.
Fire told police that they were responding to a possible suicide.
“They found a note on the door.”
2:35 p.m. — Call 6
Emergency medical personnel at the scene told police they had located two victims.
“It’s going to be gunshot wound to the head for both patients with notes”
A dispatcher responded:
“Oh my goodness that’s not okay.”
2:36 p.m. — Call 7
Moments later, fire personnel relayed their assessment to law enforcement:
“It’s going to be a murder suicide, a juvenile and a mother.”
2:39 p.m. — Call 8
Unaware of what had been discovered, Addi’s father called dispatch again.
“I’m trying to file a missing persons report for my daughter.”
He repeats the details he knows for the second time.
3:13 p.m. — Call 9
Father and stepmother call again seeking information and continue to press for answers.
“We just need some information. There was a room check done around 3:00 we really don’t know where to start with all of this Can we have them call us back immediately?”
Dispatch responded:
“As soon as there’s a free officer, we’ll have them reach out to you.”
4:05 p.m. — Call 10
More than an hour later, Addi’s father was put in contact with the police on the scene. He pleaded for immediate action.
“I need someone there I need someone there looking in that room”
The officer confirmed that they had officers currently in the room.
Addi’s father asks again what they found, if Addi and her mother are there, and if their things were missing.
The officer, who was not on scene, said he had received limited information.
5:23 p.m. — Call 11
Nearly seven hours after the first welfare check request, Addi’s grandmother contacted police, describing conflicting information circulating within the family.
“Some people are telling us that they were able to get in, and they were not in the hotel room, and other people saying they were not able to get in the hotel room, and we need to know”
She repeated the details of the case. Dispatch said officers will call her back once they have more information.
Around 8:00 p.m. — Press Conference
Later that evening, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police held a news conference confirming that Addi and her mother, Tawnia McGeehan, were found dead inside the hotel room.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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Utah
Ban on AI glasses in Utah classrooms inches closer to passing
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — AI glasses could allow you to get answers, snap photos, access audio and take phone calls—and now a proposal moving through the legislature would ban the glasses from Utah school classrooms.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Kizzy Guyton Murphy, a mother who accompanied her child’s class on a field trip to the state Capitol on Wednesday. “You can’t see inside what the student is looking at, and it’s just grounds for cheating.”
Mom Tristan Davies Seamons also sees trouble with AI glasses.
“I don’t think they should have any more technology in schools than they currently have,” she said.
Her twin daughters, fourth graders Finley and Grayson, don’t have cell phones yet.
“Not until we’re like 14,” said Grayson, adding they do have Chromebooks in school.
2News sent questions to the Utah State Board of Education:
- Does it have reports of students using AI glasses?
- Does it see cheating and privacy as major concerns?
- Does it support a ban from classrooms?
Matt Winters, USBE AI specialist, said the board has not received reports from school districts of students with AI glasses.
“Local Education Agencies (school districts) have local control over these decisions based on current law and code,” said Winters. “The Board has not taken a position on AI glasses.
MORE | Utah State Legislature:
Some districts across the country have reportedly put restrictions on the glasses in schools.
“I think it should be up to the teachers,” said Briauna Later, another mother who is all for preventing cheating, but senses a ban could leave administrators with tired eyes.
“It’s one more thing for the administration to have to keep track of,” said Later.
The proposal, HB 42, passed the House and cleared a Senate committee on Wednesday.
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