Know The Enemy 2023: Utah Utes
A friend answers our questions
We asked our friends over at The Utah Man Podcast to answer some questions about Utah football for us. Scott Omer graciously answered the call to be our go-to expert for the upcoming matchup.
Be sure to check out
and Andy Johnston previewing the game on The Utah Man Podcast.EDITOR’S NOTE: Some answers were edited slightly for clarity. Any additional input provided will be clearly denoted with “WFC:” at the start.
Utah has dealt with a lot of injuries this season. Is this rash of injuries typical (like the LA Chargers always are) or an aberration? Does Utah have enough players left to play on offense?
SO: This season has been unlike any other here at Utah. Kyle Whittingham spent all of fall camp telling the media this is the most talented team from top to bottom he has ever had at Utah. Ever since those comments, we have been losing guys at a pace I have never seen at Utah. We all know the story of Cam Rising, but his backup Brandon Rose lacerated his liver in Fall Camp because we was made live to prepare himself since he hasn’t played in a game yet. [WFC: We think this just means that Rose lacerated his liver because they were doing live tackling in Fall Camp.] We haven’t seen him back yet, which then puts us to Bryson Barnes (3rd string) and Nate Johnson (4th string). Neither have been effective nor are ready to play yet and that is a big reason why Utah has the 128th-ranked offense in college football. We have lost RB1 for some time while RB2 and RB3 for the season. Brant Kuithe our best passing target is rumored to be coming back much like Rising, but we haven’t seen him or the Florida St WR transfer Mycah Pittman has only played in 2 games due to injury. The starting center has not played a game as of yet along with a starting DE and DT. At one point, 16 guys from the two-deep have been out or missing games. Kyle has mentioned he has never seen anything like this before and it has become comical. We are past the anger stage. Utah is 4-1 with wins against Florida, UCLA, and Baylor much due to the amazing defense Utah has. Utah is deep but when you are relying on 3rd stringers in some positions and a 3rd and 4th in the most important position it has slowed the offense down to nothing.
Cal special teams have been ... unfun. Does Utah have any scary return specialists this year that will keep us up at night?
SO: I am confident in saying Utah has maybe 15 total yards of punt returns this year. They have gotten nothing out of special teams this year outside of punting. We have an amazing punter in Jack Bouwmeester, who is averaging 46 yards a punt and has great hang time, which has led to fair catches by opponents. This will be a game of very average special teams.
Cam Rising has been cagey on whether or not he will return at some point during the season. How do you feel about that? If he doesn't play another down, where does he rate amongst Utah quarterbacks?
SO: At this point, we don’t expect to see Cam Rising back this year. We were told all offseason that he should be back by Florida, but by his own admission on the radio last week, he explained he tore his ACL, MCL, meniscus, and anything else that is in the knee. In other words, it was just a smoke screen that he would be back this year. His doctor was quoted in an article in The Athletic that it is a 10-12 month recovery due to the damage. Fans are frustrated because they felt lied to, but now knowing the extent of his injury no one expects him back this year. There are rumors he is applying for a medical redshirt, but there are so many rumors that it is hard to know. If Rising has played his last football in a Utah uniform, he will go down right next to Alex Smith in terms of what he did for Utah. Winning back-to-back Pac-12 titles puts him in legend status forever at Utah. Winning either of those Rose Bowls would have made him iconic, but one fun stat about Rising is he has never finished a season at Utah healthy and left the game early in both of those Rose Bowls. The way he plays the game forces him to take shots and those shots have worn him down.
Nobody has really figured out how to move the ball on Utah's defense (see: allowing 12 points/game so far this year) but to the extent that anybody has been able to sustain drives, what have those offenses done that worked?
SO: Utah’s defense is elite. Much like Cal’s defense has been under Wilcox that is how Utah operates. Defense is how this program has been built and is always the focus. Morgan Scalley once again has recruited and put together a great defense. They have been really hard to run on so far this year only giving up 67 a game on the ground. They have 17 sacks on the year and Jonah Ellis leads the county in sacks at 7.5. They have been good against the pass but I would say that is where they are vulnerable. They don’t give up a lot of passes on drives but have been beaten fairly consistently on deep balls. That is the weakness of this defense so far. The other aspect that will be interesting to watch with this defense is how long they can keep this up. Due to Utah’s offense being epically bad, the defense is on the field a lot and getting no help. Against Oregon St, the defense had to take some chances they would not normally take because the offense was not doing anything and if that continues it will have an effect on this defense.
It's only been about a decade of Utah in the Pac-12, but how is the fanbase feeling about moving to the Big 12? Is there any nostalgia for the Pac-12 era or was it too short for the fanbase to embrace the conference?
SO: Utah fans do not like this move one bit. We have loved being in the conference playing these teams and going to these destination cities. It has been a dream come true for Utah to be in the Pac-12 and outside of the conference being run like a joke, we don’t have any complaints. Moving to the Big 12 was our best option, but no one really in the fan base is excited about it. Most of the Big 12 fan bases online don’t like Utah very much because we all have been vocal about our disdain for moving to the Big 12. We have only been in the conference for 12 years which is a short time compared to everyone else, but we had started to develop some rivalries and traditions within the conference, and playing in the Rose Bowl twice was a dream come true for all of us. That is why Utah sells 60,000+ tickets each year. We were soaking it in. We will miss the conference and schools of the Pac12 immensely, but hopefully, down the line we can get some normalcy back and maybe reform the conference or a resemblance of it down the road.
Which player on offense should Cal fans know about?
SO: Offensively, I really don’t know who to tell you. If JJ Jackson (#3) plays at RB, then he is the one to watch and he is the one that could create some problems. He is our starting RB but is questionable for this game. If he doesn’t play then Jaylon Glover (#1) will start at RB and he is our next best option. When I tell you we are down nearly every offensive playmaker, I am not joking. We are seeing guys nobody expected to see this year.
Which player on defense should Cal fans know about?
SO: Keep an eye on #8 on defense, Cole Bishop. He will be an All-American this year at safety. He is all over the field and impacts this defense. He is the leader of the defense.
Who’s one under-the-radar or X-factor player who could swing this game for you?
SO: Nate Johnson our 4th-string QB has Olympic track speed. That is his greatest strength and the hope is he will be our future QB, but so far it has not been pretty. He just isn’t ready. He has had some moments with his legs and arm that have the fanbase excited but they aren’t consistent. If he gets things put together he could be the X-factor, but that is a big if.
What does Utah need to do to win the game?
SO: To win the game Utah will have to keep playing elite defense and keep Cal to 14-17 points. Utah has only scored 7 points offensively in each of our last two games so for this offense to score 17 points may be out of reach. Utah will have to hit some explosive big plays down the field on offense and then score anytime they are in the red zone to give Utah a chance.
What does Cal need to do to win the game?
SO: Cal wins this game if they can score 20-plus points. I know Cal’s defense hasn’t been as good as you all expected this year, but I promise you it will still give Utah fits. If you can score on Utah’s defense, Cal has a great chance to win. Playing on the road in RES for a Freshman QB has not been successful but being a day game and the fan base frustrated with things it might not be its typical crazy and loud self this game. That is to be determined.
How do you see the game going?
SO: I expect a low-score game. Something along the lines of a 17-14 final score. Utah will limit Cal offensively and Cal will limit Utah offensively. I expect to see both teams run the ball and try and grind out first downs with some success in play action down the field. Whichever team wins the turnover battle or has more explosive plays will win the game.
We don't condone violence at W4C, but we like this question as an opportunity for folks to air it out. Whom do you most want to punch in the face?
SO: I don’t know if I can speak for all Utah fans but most would like to punch George Kliavcoff in the face and any USC admin and some fans. Personally, I want to punch most Big 12 fanbases and anyone from BYU. Of all the people you have asked this question to, I may have set a record for naming the most amount of people, which probably doesn’t speak very highly of me. Lol
WFC: To Scott, we appreciate your candor and would totally understand why each and every option listed is punch-worthy. We don’t think less of you for listing multiple options.