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Coming off of their first year in the Pac-12, the Utes now know exactly what to expect in year two, but what can fans expect to see from the Utes? It is always so hard to tell what a team’s strengths and weaknesses will be before a season starts. So-called experts and media members go to scrimmages and watch offenses struggle and assume it’s because that unit is dysfunctional. Then when the season starts, it turns out that the defense was just so dominant that the offense could never get off the ground until it saw opposing defenses.
With that in mind, we usually have more questions than answers in August, so let’s start asking those questions. Here are the five biggest question marks facing the Utes in 2012.
1. Can Jordan Wynn stay healthy? No question, this is the biggest mystery facing the Utes. Wynn has been injury-prone to say the least since he has started his career at Utah. When he is healthy, which we’ve rarely seen, he is a pretty darn good quarterback with an accurate and strong arm. There were questions as to whether or not he was ever healthy in 2011, and I think he may have been for a game and a half. That’s when we saw his best play. This is a major question mark this year because he has two very inexperienced tackles protecting him going into the season. Which brings us to question mark number two …2. Will the offensive line hold up? This was a unit that gave up 33 sacks a year ago (third worst in the Pac-12), and that’s when it had two great tackles in Tony Bergstrom and John Cullen. They are now gone. As of now, it appears that they will be replaced by Percy Taumoelau and Miles Mason, neither of whom has very much experience at the division one level. Having an offensive line with little experience at the tackle position combined with a very fragile quarterback and a league with great defensive ends is a big problem.
3. Can Brian Johnson get it done as the new offensive coordinator? The Utes don’t have a lot of questions, but the ones they do have are huge, as evidenced by this being the number three concern on our list. The players are the ones who win and lose games in college football, which is why this is down at number three behind the first two, but make no mistake, this is a major concern.
I believe that Johnson will do just fine his first year and great from there on out. He was made to be a coach. Just look at the Sugar Bowl, where he was essentially the offensive coordinator as he led the Ute offense against one of the best defenses in the country. However, he is just 25 years old, and there will be some growing pains in year one.
4. Can the Utes stay healthy as a team? This year, there are five teams in the nation that are on their own level, separate from everyone else in the nation — USC, LSU, Alabama, Oklahoma and Oregon. Everyone else is just about on a level playing field with each other on the front lines of the depth chart. It’s depth that separates the teams that make it and the teams that don’t.
The Utes’ ones are as good as anyone in the nation, outside of those five listed above. But the depth is still not there. It is getting better, but it's still not on par with the Pac-12 elite. If the Utes sustain injuries anywhere except maybe the defensive line, it may turn into a long season. The corners are the least deep position on the field for the Utes, and with the amount of incredibly talented receivers in the conference, even just one injury at defensive back and the Utes are in trouble.
5. Are the linebackers ready? The Utes lost Chaz Walker and Matt Martinez, the team’s two leading tacklers, to graduation. They will likely be replaced by the likes of VJ Fehoko and Jacoby Hale. Trevor Reilly returns at the stud linebacker spot and he will anchor the crew, but Fehoko could have a coming out party in 2012. He could become one of the biggest hitters in the Pac-12.
This unit will have to put pressure on quarterbacks like Matt Barkley of USC, Zach Maynard of Cal and Jeff Tuel of Washington State, and they will also have to contain very mobile, playmaking quarterbacks like Chuckie Keeton of Utah State, Riley Nelson of BYU and Keith Price of Washington. This will be a tall task for a unit with that much inexperience.
Trevor Amicone is the editor of byutahinsiders.com, a website that will be launched before the 2012 football season to cover both Utah and BYU football as well as national college football. Follow his Twitter feed at @TrevorAmicone.
