By Kyle Golik
In the wake of a tumultuous offseason, the Pac-12 heads into its swan song season. The conference has been a testament to both academic and athletic excellence for more than 100 years.
Even in its short tenure as part of the conference, Utah has excelled. Some of the highlights include posting a winning record in Pac-12 play in eight of the previous nine seasons.
The Utes have participated in four total Pac-12 Championship Games, winning the last two Pac-12 Championships.
Utah not only has aspirations of finishing off its time in the Pac-12 with a three-peat, but it also has College Football Playoff dreams.
Head coach Kyle Whittingham has the second longest continuous tenure with one team in the nation entering his 19th season at Utah.
His time has included back-to-back Rose Bowl appearances, Pac-12 Championships, winning the Sugar Bowl against Alabama that capped an undefeated season. He also has won 11 bowl games and 11 of 15 contests in their heated rivalry in The Holy War with BYU.
More Sports News
A testament to where Utah is respect-wise amongst the nation’s top programs is demonstrated by Florida this week, as they make their first non-conference road game outside of the Sunshine State since 1991. On that day, it was the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, NY. But Thursday night, they will be in Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City.

Whittingham reflecting on Utah’s past achievements and with Florida making this road trip said, “I think it speaks to our national brand. A team like Florida, I don’t think they’ve left Florida hardly ever for a non-conference game. We’re certainly in a completely different place now than we were even 10 years ago, certainly 20 or 30 years ago. We aren’t where we want to be, we still have inroads to make from a national perspective and growing our brand. “
The loaded question all off-season is the health of veteran quarterback Cameron Rising.
Rising suffered an ACL tear in the Rose Bowl against Penn State. Reports have been mixed on the quarterback’s status, something Whittingham did not elaborate on at his press conference simply stating, “No elaboration on the depth chart.”
Rising hasn’t leaked any information either. He has alluded that he is feeling fine and will be prepared to go against Florida.
Cam Rising said he feels “pretty damn good” right now. He’s not going to get into whether he’s been cleared but joked he’ll be ready up to 7 minutes before kickoff.
— Josh Furlong (@JFurKSL) August 28, 2023
If Rising isn’t a go for Florida, Whittingham will likely turn to redshirt junior Bryson Barnes.
Barnes last season had his first career start against Washington State where he was efficient in a 21-17 win going 17 for 27 for 175 yards that included a touchdown to tight end Dalton Kincaid and a highlight throw to Money Parks on a 31-yard reception.
In relief of Rising in the Rose Bowl against an elite Penn State secondary, Barnes was 10 for 19 passing for 112 yards with a touchdown and interception.
However, Whittingham has been coy about anointing Barnes the starter, with redshirt freshman Nate Johnson making it a competition.
Whittingham remarked, “Very close, it still is. Nate has really closed the gap. You’ve got to weigh everything; you’ve got Barnes who won the Washington State game (in 2022) and performed very well in the Ohio State game (in the Rose Bowl). Nate has done well in the limited reps he’s gotten, but it hasn’t been extensive. There’s a lot of, I don’t want to say guesswork, but you’ve got to project. You will see Nate Johnson in this game no matter what happens.”
The other big question mark for the Utah offense is who replaces elite tight end Dalton Kincaid for Utah.
During the 2021 season, Kincaid had 72% of his snaps as an inline tight end and just 28% of his snaps on the edge or in the slot. Last season, Kincaid had an increase in activity in the slot or on the edge with 45% of his snaps at that position.
Replacing him is no easy task with both Brant Kuithe and Thomas Yassmin having to step up to fill the shoes of the current Buffalo Bills tight end.

On defense, they might even be better despite key departures in cornerback Clark Phillips III, Gabe Reid, who led the team in sacks, and top tackler Mohamoud Diabate.
Losing a corner as good as Phillips hurts, but returning Cole Bishop is a big plus. Bishop’s 35 run-defense stops and 14 tackles for loss/no-gain over the past two seasons were Top 5 at the position group and rated him amongst the Top 10 safeties in the country.
The linebackers look just as fierce with the pass rushing and sure tackler in ROVER Karene Reid. He will be partnered with Lander Barton, who replaces Diabate, who will be operating out of the STUD linebacker position.
The strength of Utah’s defense is in the defensive line, a unit that helped the Utes lead the Pac-12 in sacks and tackles for loss.
The leader is junior defensive tackle Junior Tafuna, who was the 2021 Pac-12 Freshman Defensive Player of the Year and had Second-Team All Pac-12 recognition with 27 tackles including 3.5 tackles for loss.

The defensive line also consists of juniors Connor O’Toole and Van Fillinger, and redshirt freshman Keanu Tanavasa.
Whittingham was pleased with the arrival of three-star JUCO defensive tackle Vili Taufatofua, commenting on the depth of his defensive line, “He’s here, yeah, that was him, so we’re 100% intact and he’s been here for about a week and he looks really good. He’s not gonna be able to be a contributor right away but we expect him to start working his way into the into the rotation there in the defensive line, rich get richer.”
Whether Rising gets the start or does not play Thursday against Florida, Utah is primed for another run in 2023. Nothing would be sweeter for Utah to clinch another Pac-12 Championship and serve notice to its new league, the Utes have the depth to rise to any occasion.