SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will take the field at Rice-Eccles Stadium in less than two weeks when it welcomes instate Southern Utah University for the season opener. In order to prepare, KSL.com continues its countdown with two players that will don No. 13 this season, Jordan Fogal and Bapa Falemaka.

Jordan Fogal, JR, defensive back

Coming from the strong JUCO pipeline that Utah’s created, Fogal was in line to see significant playing time last season after making the two-deep depth chart behind Justin Thomas at nickel back. He even saw the field in the first three games before a season-ending injury to his ACL forced him to the sideline. He had injured his ACL once before at College of San Mateo.

Now, he’s back and appears to be healthy heading into 2016. However, after recovering all of last season and limited participation in the spring, his backup position has since been relinquished to Boobie Hobbs. With the secondary currently loaded with experience, Fogal will struggle to find playing time moving into 2016.

If he can find his old form and the ACL injury hasn’t affected him too much, though, Fogal will almost certainly find playing time in games that are well in hand, and at the very least, is a very solid third-string option.

Bapa Falemaka, FR, tight end

Falemaka might sound familiar to Utah fans because of the older Lo Falemaka being on the team, and he was one of two players shot at an off-campus party last summer. But Bapa Falemaka is a newcomer for the Utes, and he just recently earning his drum and feather in fall camp. He originally committed to instate Utah State.

Falemaka is viewed as an interesting prospect who boasts impressive intangibles and a rare combo of speed and athleticism for his size at 6-foot-3, 239 pounds. However, Utah is set at the tight end position and it is likely Falemaka will not be making an impact for quite some time. Once he works out some of his raw kinks, though, the freshman could develop into a nice player for the Utes.

Twitter: @GriffDoug

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