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SALT LAKE CITY — This Thanksgiving season, all fans should take the time to acknowledge what they are thankful for this year. If you need some help, here are five things to be grateful for as a Utah football fan this season:
Utah is the Pac-12 South champs
Utah football achieved its primary goal of the season and won the South Division of the Pac-12. It is the first time the Utes have captured the division title since joining the conference in 2011. This means they will play either Washington or Washington State in the Pac-12 Championship game on November 30, with the winner advancing to the Rose Bowl.
Utah’s ability to overcome adversity
As if Utah having the toughest schedule in the Pac-12 wasn’t enough adversity this year, the Utes also lost starting quarterback Tyler Huntley and star running back Zach Moss within a week of one another. They started the year 0-2 in conference play and finished 6-1.
The most recent two games against Oregon and Colorado were must-win games. Backup quarterback Jason Shelly took his first snaps under center after Huntley’s injury. The team didn’t give up at any point this year and lived by head coach Kyle Whittingham’s philosophy of “next man up.” The Utes fought through every difficulty this year and are able to call themselves South Division champs!
The coaching staff
Kyle Whittingham has received a lot of guff about not being able to win the South in years past. But he never let it stop him and shut all of that down this year. Whittingham is 119-59 as the head coach of the Utes. He is also 11-1 in bowl games. There has been a total of 20 coaching changes since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011 and Whittingham is the only head coach in the South that remains the same since entering the conference.
Thanks should also be given to offensive coordinator Troy Taylor and defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley. Taylor received criticism after the first four games of the year where Utah’s offense struggled mightily. But he turned it around mid-season and the last seven games Utah has averaged 35.1 points per game. Scalley has led Utah’s defense to the 14th best overall defense this year and the fifth-best rushing defense in the country.
The Oregon Ducks
Oregon deserves a shout out here. Utah needed Arizona State to lose to Oregon because they held the tiebreaker after Utah lost to them earlier this year. After the Utes knocked off Colorado early Saturday afternoon, the program had to wait all day to root just as hard for Oregon. The Ducks struggled for much of the second half, but held on to win by 2 points after Arizona State failed to complete a 2-point conversion that would have tied the game up in the final minutes. Once the clock hit zero, Utah could officially start celebrating being the champions of the South.
Utah’s linebacking corps
Senior linebackers Chase Hansen and Cody Barton have been lights out for Utah in their senior year. They are a huge part of the reason Utah is the fifth-best team against the run this year. Barton has 92 total tackles, 10.5 for a loss of yards. He also has 3.5 sacks and an interception. Hansen has 88 total tackles, 19 of which being for a loss of yards. Hansen adds five sacks and two interceptions. Both players have played their hearts out in their senior year and Utah fans should be very grateful for them.
