SALT LAKE CITY – Head coach Kyle Whittingham and Utah Football turn their focus to week two and the Baylor Bears. This game will be a non-conference game but will also be Big 12 Homecoming weekend for the Utes and other members of the conference.

Week one provided Utah with a competitive environment to fine-tune execution before the competition increases in the coming weeks. The Utes scored 49 points while limiting the Thunderbirds to 0 on the scoreboard. They produced 513 yards total yards and gave up just 150 on the other side of the ball.

We’re on a bear hunt this 𝗪𝗘𝗘𝗞

🏟️: Rice-Eccles Stadium
⏰: 1:30PM MT
📺: FOX
📻: ESPN 700 AM / 92.1 FM#GoUtes pic.twitter.com/J8pjcqncIv

— Utah Football (@Utah_Football) September 2, 2024

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More importantly, it was a good welcome back for Cam Rising, Brant Kuithe, and the rest of the squad but now Utah Football’s season truly begins.

Utah Football preparing tougher test against Baylor Bears

If Utah’s week one contest against SUU was the welcome-back party, week two against the Baylor Bears is the reality check. This will be a much tougher matchup but more importantly, will provide a better picture of Utah’s potential this season.

“Much bigger challenge this week, we understand that,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said. “Baylor is a good football team, they’ve got good personnel, and they’re extremely well-coached.”

“We have to prepare the right way all week long, just like we do every single week and be ready for a fight because that’s what it’s going to be.” Kyle Whittingham on the Baylor Bears

Quarterback Cam Rising had a pretty efficient performance in his return to action on Thursday. He also recognizes that this will be a more difficult contest but feels confident in the guys around him.

“I think they’re a very sound football team and I think they’re going to be (very improved) this year,” Rising said of the Bears. “It’s going to be a good game, we’ve just got to be ready to go for anything they bring at us.”

Utah needs more from the run game

This week will be much tougher competition. Utah has to maintain levels of efficiency & explosiveness while doing so against a better opponent. So, where can Utah make improvements going into week two?

“There were some things we could do better, as there is every single week,” Whittingham said. “I thought we ran the ball just ok. We had 185 yards rushing but we like to get that 5.0 yards a carry statistic and we were just shy of that.”

Top Five Takeaways From Kyle Whittingham’s Utah vs Baylor Press Conference

Utah’s run game should play a bigger role in the formula to success this weekend. The Bears finished as one of the worst defenses in all of college football last season. That has led to Dave Aranda taking over defensive coordinator duties, which could lead to schematic changes. Utah may need to rely on the run game if that’s what the defense dictates. At the very least, there will be a need for balance on offense as they figure out how to best attack the Aranda-led defense.

“It was a throw-first game plan, I thought we ran the ball efficiently,” Andy Ludwig said. “Southern Utah was fully committed to stopping the run with 9-man boxes, which created a lot of 1-on-1’s which we were able to exploit.”

Still, Ludwig was encouraged by what he saw from the rushing attack, particularly from the specific components of it.

“I was pleased with Mike Mitchell, what he showed. Dijon Stanley out of the backfield whether as a receiver or running the ball, he did a lot of good things. I’ve got a lot of confidence in Micah Bernard, Charlie Vincent, and Jaylon Glover. And I think the offensive line is really going to be something special on this football team.”

Cleaning up mistakes, continue on a positive trajectory

Not only is there a desire for an improved run game there is also a desire to simply play cleaner football. The Utes had 6 penalties for 55 yards as well as two interceptions, two fumbles- which they recovered, and gave up 9 pressures in pass protection (only 2 on Rising).

“I think procedurally we could be better, we had a series where just kept going backward, kept shooting ourselves in the foot,” quarterback Cam Rising said. “Whenever you have that it’s just bad business, bad ball, and you can’t really have a successful drive when you’re doing that over & over. And then cleaning up a few protections to make sure we’ve got it as tight as we can get it would be great.”

Well deserved, @MonterrenParks! 🙌#GoUtes https://t.co/ALm2SjErkj

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 3, 2024

Eliminating self-inflicted mistakes is traditionally a significant part of a team’s improvement after week one. However, tightening up pass protections going into week two will be critical for Utah. Pass protection wasn’t bad against SUU but it could’ve been better and needs to be better against Baylor.

“I think we need improvement in every area,” Ludwig said. “I think I said at the conclusion of fall camp that I was confident in the direction of the offense and the improvement that we’ve shown but in no way are we comfortable. We had good work today and look forward to another day of work tomorrow.”

Utah Football Schedule

Utah will be back in action against the Baylor Bears for week two on Saturday.  You can find Utah football’s conference schedule here.

Steve Bartle is the Utah insider for KSL Sports. He hosts The Utah Blockcast (SUBSCRIBE) and appears on KSL Sports Zone to break down the Utes. You can follow him on X for the latest Utah updates and game analysis.

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Utah opened the 2024 season with a 49-0 win over Southern Utah on Thursday. However, the good start came with bad news this week. Utes cornerback Kenan Johnson suffered a season-ending lower leg injury during the first half of the game.

Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham confirmed the severity of Johnson’s injury on Monday, noting that while Johnson’s season is over, there is a possibility for him to return next year if he chooses. Before his injury, the Georgia Tech transfer had recorded three tackles and was expected to be a key part of the defense.

In Johnson’s absence, Utah will rely on Smith Snowden, Cam Calhoun, and Scooby Davis to fill the void at cornerback. Snowden, who had been playing the nickel position, showed versatility and performed well on the inside. Davis, who grabbed an interception against Southern Utah, provided solid contributions, while Calhoun, a transfer from Michigan, is expected to be back in action this week. Whittingham mentioned that the coaching staff would evaluate different configurations in practice to determine the best setup moving forward.

Three takeaways from No. 12 Utah’s win over Southern Utah

On the offensive side, the return of quarterback Cam Rising and tight end Brant Kuithe was a highlight. The duo showcased their chemistry by connecting on three touchdown passes in the first half, underscoring their importance to the team’s success. Rising’s ability to find Kuithe in key moments was crucial and reaffirmed the dynamic nature of their partnership.

Additionally, freshman wide receiver Dijon Stanley emerged as a new offensive threat, recording three catches for 150 yards, including two long touchdown receptions. His performance added another dimension to Utah’s potent offense.

Looking ahead, Utah faces a tougher challenge as they prepare to host Baylor, a rematch of last season’s closely contested 20-13 victory in Waco. Whittingham acknowledged the need to elevate their play, as Baylor is a formidable opponent eager to avenge last year’s loss.

DELTA, Utah — Diane Mecham was born and raised here.

And she’s a reader of the local newspaper, the Millard County Chronicle Progress, which traces its history to 1894.

“It’s just the hub of our wheel of the whole community,” Mecham said. “It gives us our information all the time.”

Mecham calls a lawsuit threatening the newspaper “scary.”

“They keep us up to date on the county progress, the city,” she said. “There’s birthdays, obituaries. There’s wedding announcements. It’s a social as well.”

Businessman Wayne Aston filed a lawsuit against the Chronicle Progress in December. The suit asks for “not less” than $19.2 million. A judge Wednesday in Fillmore will hear an argument from the newspaper asking the lawsuit to be thrown out, citing a statute the state Legislature passed in 2023.

If Aston receives even a fraction of the money he’s seeking, the Chronicle Progress — 2,500 copies of which land in mailboxes and on store shelves once a week in desert communities stretching from central Utah to the Nevada line — would likely close.

BUSINESS PROPOSAL

In early 2023, Aston proposed to manufacture modular homes and other projects at a parcel across from the airport in Fillmore, the Millard County seat. The Chronicle Progress reported how Aston sought public funding for infrastructure improvements that would benefit his projects.

In December, Aston sued the Chronicle Progress in state court. He claims defamation, contending the Chronicle Progress published “false and defamatory statements.”

The Chronicle Progress in Wednesday’s hearing will ask the lawsuit be dismissed because of the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act. Passed in 2023, the Utah Legislature was concerned that lawsuits — and the cost of litigation — were being used to silence First Amendment activities.

The Act provides a legal mechanism for a judge to quickly determine whether slander lawsuits have merit and to dismiss such suits if they don’t. The defendants also have opportunities to recover their legal fees.

At a Utah Senate hearing in January 2023, media law attorney Jeff Hunt testified in favor of the bill. He was representing a media coalition that includes FOX 13.

“And the purpose, I think it’s important to emphasize,” Hunt testified, “in bringing these lawsuits is not to vindicate someone’s legal rights, but rather to intimidate citizens and subject them to costly litigation for speaking out on matters of public concern.”

Hunt now represents The Chronicle Progress in the suit filed by Aston. (Hunt has also had FOX 13 News as a client.) In their written briefs, Hunt and the newspaper have argued the reporting was accurate.

They’ve included citations to Aston’s bankruptcy cases and the business lawsuits filed against him. Aston has claimed reporting on those issues was false.

“This case is a retaliatory lawsuit brought by a litigious real estate developer,” the defense brief says, “who seeks to silence the voice of the small-town newspaper that dared report on his efforts to convince Fillmore city to help him raise hundreds of millions of dollars….”

PLAINTIFF ARGUMENTS

Aston’s lawyer, Ryan Fraizer, sent FOX 13 News a statement on behalf of his client. It reads:

“We support the constitutional rights of free speech, including those espoused in the principles behind the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act.  However, the statute (is) not intended to shield media outlets from the consequences of publishing malicious and demonstrably false allegations or information that harms individuals or businesses.

“We believe that is the situation at issue in the lawsuit. We trust that the Court will carefully examine the facts and hold the newspaper responsible for any damages they have caused.”

Meanwhile, Aston’s plans for the Fillmore development have not come to fruition. City Council minutes show no discussion since March.

Mecham calls the Chronicle Progress “very factual.”

When asked whether she thought the newspaper was the reason Aston’s project hasn’t blossomed, Mecham replied: “I think our communities can think for themselves. They don’t need someone telling them how to do it.”