Weber State @ Utah preview
Rice-Eccles Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 7, 2013 ) Weber State 7, Utah 70
Utah gets an early start to the new season Thursday night when it hosts in-state rival Weber State, the co-defending champion of the FCS Big Sky Conference. The Utes are looking to improve after a 7-6 season a year ago - the program’s worst finish in four years.
All six of the Utah’s losses - and only three of its wins - last season came in Pac-12 play as the Utes finished above only Colorado in the South division. Still, the season ended on a high note as Utah was the only Pac-12 team to win a bowl game and now bring back 18 players with starting experience, including eight on offense. Pac-12 media members have taken notice, picking the Utes to finish a close second to defending-champ USC in the South preseason media poll. “I think we’ve got a lot going for us this fall,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham told reporters during his Pac-12 media day news conference. “We still have some question marks ... but we’ve got a lot of guys who are very focused, and (I) really like the attitude and just the demeanor of this football team.”
TV: 8 p.m. ET, Pac-12 Network. LINE: No Line
ABOUT WEBER STATE (2017: 11-3): The Wildcats’ 11 wins a season ago set a single-season school record, and coach Jay Hill’s team is ranked eighth in the preseason AFCA FCS Top 25 Coaches Poll. Weber State brings back 16 starters in all, including 10 All-Big Sky Conference selections and five FCS All-Americans led by versatile fullback Brady May and linebacker LeGrand Toia. The Wildcats, though, are looking to replace quarterback Stefan Cantwell, who threw for 2,978 yards and 25 touchdowns last season, and sophomore Jake Constantine - a 2016 Boise State signee and transfer from Ventura College - looks as if he’ll take the reins.
ABOUT UTAH (2017: 7-6): Heading the list of eight returning starters on offense is dual-threat quarterback Tyler Huntley, who is the Pac-12’s returning leader in total offense after averaging 294.8 yards per game a season ago. Also back are four of the five offensive-line starters and tailback Zack Moss, who rushed for 1,173 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2017. Defensively, the Utes bring back four starters, led by All-Pac 12 second-team cornerback Julian Blackmon and linebacker Chase Hansen, a defensive playmaker who has moved from safety to linebacker this season.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Utah leads the series 4-0, with the most recent win coming by a 70-7 count in 2013.
2. The Utes are opening against a Big Sky opponent for the third straight season after having defeated Southern Utah (24-0) in 2016 and North Dakota (37-16) last year.
3. Utah possesses perhaps the nation’s best kicking duo in K Matt Gay, the 2017 Lou Groza Award winner, and P Mitch Wishnowsky, the 2016 Ray Guy Award winner.
PREDICTION: Utah 33, Weber State 20