Utah Football 2014 – Better, Worse or about the Same?

OFFENSE

Better. The most glaring statistic that has doomed the University of Utah football program since 2008? Not one quarterback has started and finished a season as the Utes lead signal caller since Brian Johnson led the Utes to a 31-17 Sugar Bowl win over Alabama. To say the Utes have had bad luck with all the injuries to QBs recently would be a severe understatement.  

Travis Wilson received clearance to participate in spring football (no contact) and will receive a final evaluation in July to see if the damage to an intracranial artery has healed to the point that he could return to football. Best case scenario is that he is given the go ahead to play, but even if he’s not the Utes are in far better shape depth-wise at QB than they have been in recent years.

Oklahoma transfer Kendall Thompson arrives on campus in May ready to participate in offseason conditioning workouts before he is given a shot at competing for the starting job this fall. Conner Manning is a darkhorse candidate that no one is talking about – has the best arm on the team, but lacks the dual threat capabilities of Wilson and Thompson.

New offensive coordinator Dave Christensen (yes, the Utes 7^th offensive coordinator in the past seven years) has the offense running at a high tempo. WR Dres Anderson won’t be the only weapon with teammate Kenneth Scott returning from an injury suffered in the first game of 2013. RB Devontae Booker teams up with returning star Bubba Poole in the backfield to provide the Utes with a Thunder and Lighting running style.

The big question mark will be whether the offensive line, which to be quite frank was abysmal in spring camp, can begin to gel as a unit and provide pass protection and running lanes for whoever has the ball in their hands.

Utah RB Bubba Poole

DEFENSE

Worse. Big questions at safety and corner could spell trouble for the Utes defensively.

While the LB corps might be the best unit on the team with Miami transfer Gionni Paul, Jason Whittingham and Jared Norris leading the way, the cast around them is vastly unproven. LB Brian Blechen is potentially being moved back to safety to allow previous safety Eric Rowe a shot at being the Utes next lockdown cornerback, while Kalani Sitake tries to figure out how to replace Trevor Reilly and Tenny Palepoi on the defensive line.

They could put it together by the time the season comes around, but the defense we saw in spring camp won’t be good enough to carry the Utes back to their first bowl game since 2011.

Will Utah be better, worse or about the same as last year? 

Slightly better. Winning just  5 games apiece in 2012 and 2013 isn’t anything to write home about, but considering that one of its only two conference wins last season came against the then No. 5 team in the country (Stanford) proves that the Utes are competitive in these games already, they just need to figure out to come out on the winning side.

Having a healthy QB with plenty of options will help the Utes squeak out an additional win to get to that elusive 6-6 mark and return to where it rightfully belongs – playing in bowl games. 

Robert Jackson, the online sports director for ksl.com provided the information for our Utah Football 2013 Spring Wrap Up. For more Utah  football information, commentary and analysis, you can follow Robert on Twitter @rojackKSL.