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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah football team opens up training camp Monday and there are several questions hovering over the program, including whether the team can improve and make it back to the postseason for the first time in three seasons.
The schedule Utah faces, however, is as daunting of a schedule as the team has ever faced. With the hardest schedule in the Pac-12 and the seventh most difficult schedule in the country, Utah will have an uphill battle on its hands.
Earlier this week, USA Today released its preseason top 25 and five of Utah's upcoming opponents made the list, with four of them rounding out the top 15: Oregon (4), UCLA (7), Stanford (11) and USC (15).
Utah was close in several games last season, but it’s a new season, a new coaching staff and an improved conference. Utah has made improvements and has added to its depth in the few years its been in the conference, but so has the rest of the conference.
Although Utah sustained several key injuries last season — Kenneth Scott, Westlee Tonga and Jake Murphy to name a few — it cannot be an excuse. Oregon State and USC had a depleted roster coming into games against Utah and throughout their respective seasons; however, both programs fought through the injuries and made it to the postseason.
Injuries are part of the game, which is why depth is key to Utah’s future success. The second team must be able to pick up where the first team leaves off. In previous seasons Utah didn’t have the depth to replace injuries and there was a significant dropoff from the first to second team.
Related:
Is Utah better suited as an underdog?
Coming off back-to-back losing seasons, few see the University of Utah football team as a viable threat at competing for a top spot in the conference in 2014. In fact, few likely see Utah as a threat at all.“We’ve had three years now to recruit in the Pac-12 and we feel like we’ve helped ourselves and become a better team from the top of the roster to the bottom in those three years,” head coach Kyle Whittingham said at Pac-12 media day.
Utah has yet to play a down this fall, but it appears to be closer to having the depth necessary to absorb the problems associated with injuries. But whether that remains to be true is still up for discussion.
Although every aspect of the team is important to its success, the offense is where Utah will live or die this season. Coming into training camp Monday the Utes will look to answer the quarterback question: Is returning starter Travis Wilson the guy to lead Utah to the postseason or is it incoming Oklahoma transfer Kendal Thompson (or any other quarterback the Utes have on the roster)?
Much has been said about Thompson, but unless he is clearly much better under center, Wilson will likely be the starter at the end of the August. Prior to Wilson’s injury, he started the season as one of the 10 best quarterbacks in the country — ranking high in passing, quarterback rating and single game quarterback rating.
However, when the Pac-12 schedule began, Wilson struggled with his game, throwing several interceptions (many in a single game). If Wilson can return to the pre-Pac-12 style of play, Utah has a chance to be successful. If not, Utah will likely hover around the 5-7 record for the third consecutive season.
