There were many times this year that we thought this day would never come, but the 2020 Utah football season is here. The Utes welcome in the USC Trojans on Saturday night to a fanless Rice-Eccles Stadium. The Trojans are off to a quick 2-0 start and are on top of the Pac-12 South. As is the common theme of the last few years, this game will likely determine who ends up winning the Pac-12 South. It is also Utah’s first game of the season and is likely the most important game on their shortened schedule.
Quarterback: USC
Based on what our sources have told Ute Nation, we believe that Cam Rising will be the starter on Saturday night. This would mark Rising’s first collegiate start. It is tough to evaluate Rising because he hasn’t played significant football since his senior year in high school. We truly do not know how he is going to react under pressure or what kind of scheme Andy Ludwig has built around Rising. Rising, by all reports, has had an outstanding fall camp and he shrined even more, during the scrimmages. He would bring a dynamic much similar to what Tyler Huntley brought the last three seasons. It will be also interesting to see how long of a leash Rising will have with South Carolina transfer, Jake Bentley, ready to take the reins when needed.
Kedon Slovis will be starting for USC and has completed 71% of his passes for 706 yards and 3 TDs in the last two games for the Trojans. He has also led them on game-winning drives in both of these games. Slovis was knocked out of the game last year against the Utes and only played a few plays. He has not looked as good as he was hyped up to be in the offseason, but also has very high standards playing for USC. The Sophomore quarterback has a very talented receiving group that makes his job much easier, but often misses passes that are not in the vicinity of his receivers. It will be interesting to see how the Trojans attack the young Utah secondary and it is likely that Slovis has a big day with his NFL-bound receivers against a couple of true-freshman in the Utah secondary.
Running Back: Utah
Replacing the All-Time rusher at Utah will be one of the toughest tasks the Utes will face this season. However, we saw glimpses of the replacements last year and the running back room is solid for the Utes. The two backs that will be featured the most are sophomore Jordan Wilmore and junior Devin Brumfield. Both of these backs saw time last year in specific situations but will likely split the duties in 2020 with a few glimpses of redshirt freshman Micah Bernard and true freshman Ty Jordan. Jordan is a wild card that is a threat to score any time he touches the ball.
Offensive Coordinator Graham Harrell has the Trojans pass almost 50 times per game with the air-raid offense. This means not a ton of action for the Trojan running backs. However, Markese Stepp and Stephen Carr have both had success on the ground in the first two games both averaging over 5 yards per carry. But, it is not expected that this group will get a ton of action on Saturday with the advantages that USC has in the pass game.
Wide Receiver: USC
Returning all of the starters besides Demari Simpkins, this group is bound to explode for the Utes. Although, we admit, these kinds of remarks have been made plenty, in years past and results haven’t followed. Britain Covey, Bryan Thompson, Solomon Enis and Samson Nacua lead this group and it is likely the first time in many years that the Utes will lean more on the pass than they will the run. With the transfer of Jaylen Dixon, it will be interesting to see who fills the vacancy of a fast, deep-threat. However, a healthy Britain Covey and Bryan Thompson will be tough to defend for any defense this year.
The best receiving group in the conference will face the youngest secondary in the conference on Saturday night. Amon-Ra St. Brown, Drake London, and Tyler Vaughns are the three top targets for Kedon Slovis and the USC offense. All three have the ability to beat you over the top and all three are a very technically sound group. Crisp routes and speed always get these three open. Now, the biggest question is if Slovis will be able to get these athletes the ball in the right spots. Last year, Utah had many miscommunications in the defensive backfield that led to a big day for the USC receivers. Going up against a secondary as young as the Utes’ creates a matchup that will be the most difficult for Utah.
Tight End: Utah
The tight end position is the other reason that the Utes will be looking to throw the ball all over the field in 2020. Brant Kuithe who emerged as one of the Utes’ top weapons in 2019 is back with Cole Fotheringham. Fotheringham will be used more for short distance situations and play-action passes and Kuithe will be all over the field vertically and will likely receive a hand off or two to mix up the run game. Dalton Kincaid also brings a lot of intrigue as he was a fall camp standout.
The implementation of the air-raid at USC has slowly diminished the use of the tight end. However, Graham Harrel loves to use Erik Krommenhoek and Jude Wolfe in short-yard situations and to keep a balance with the running game.
Offensive Line: Utah
Head Coach Kyle Whittingham said earlier this season that this might be the deepest group of offensive line he has ever had. He feels that there are 10 guys he can plug in at any time. This group struggled late last year but with the return of four of five starters, this group is experienced and deep for the Utes, something that the program has lacked in years past.
This is a good but not great position group for USC. The Trojans return three starters from last year and have some more experience under their belt. Austin Jackson, who led this group last year left for the NFL is a tough hole to fill. Alijah Vera-Tucker will protect Slovis’ blindside. Even with three starters with more than a year of experience, this group faces a tough challenge against the Utah defensive line. They have only given up 3 sacks so far this year but Utah will be the toughest matchup that this group will see all year.
Defensive Line: Tie
Reloading at the defensive line position has been one of the keys for the Utah defense in the last few years. Leading this group will be Mika Tafua and Maxs Tupai on the edge and Viane Moala and Hauati Pututau in the middle. The Utes sent three defensive lineman to the NFL last year but this group does not plan on taking any step back in 2020.
USC’s Drake Jackson and Nick Figueroa are the Trojan’s highest graded defenders both playing opposite of each other at the defensive end position. This group lost Utah native Jay Tufele to the NFL, but Marlon Tuipultou has stepped up in his absence, leading the Trojans in tackles. The Utah offensive line has improved, but Jackson and Figueroa have already caused havoc for the last two quarterbacks they have faced.
Linebacker: Utah
A big question mark for the Utah defense will be the linebacker play after sending Francis Bernard to the NFL. Devin Lloyd is an honorable mention for all Pac-12 at Linebacker and was the Ute’s leading tackler in 2019. Nephi Sewell has moved from safety in the offseason and it is a question mark for the Utah starting defense. However, Lloyd is the heart and soul of this defense and there should not be much of a drop off.
This group is the weak point for the USC defense. New defensive coordinator Todd Orlando, admitted that there is a lot of room for improvement with this group. The Trojans gave up 112 rushing yards to Arizona’s top running back last week and over 250 yards to Arizona in the opening week. Ralen Goforth and Palaie Gaoteote IV have struggled early on this season and it looks like they are still trying to get used to the new schemes. Instead of just reacting to the offense, they look slow to read a dissect the play before moving, which has caused issues for the USC defense.
Secondary: USC
Utah will be replacing the entire secondary after sending five starters from 2019 to NFL teams. True Freshmen Nate Ritchie and Clark Phillips will get the start at safety and corner and this is the biggest question mark for the 2020 Utes. Will they be able to keep up with the Pac-12 passing attacks?
For the Trojans, this group has performed well in the first two games. The safeties, Talanoa Hufanga and Isaiah Pola-Mao have separated themselves as the top playmakers for this USC defense and have been all over the field. Olaijah Griffin has also been one of the highest graded defensive players for USC. This group has been put in tough positions due to the poor linebacker play, but have stepped up in many occasions.
Special Teams: Tie
Britain Covey alone would usually give the Utes the edge for Special Teams. However , Utah still has questions regarding who will kick their field goals and extra points. For USC, Amon-Ra St. Brown is always a problem when he touches the ball. Both of these two could easily make a play that changes the game on Saturday night.
