Utah’s 2018 football team is arguably Kyle Whittingham’s best

SALT LAKE CITY — Late Saturday night, Utah claimed its first-ever South Division title in the Pac-12, ending the ever-increasing pressure on the university to be the last South team to cross the barrier. And given the obstacles placed in Utah’s path this season, it’s arguably the best performance in Kyle Whittingham’s tenure at Utah.

Close observers of the Utah football program point to Whittingham’s measured coaching as a reason for the sustained success and respect of the program. From his days in the Mountain West Conference, where Utah shocked the country by beating Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, to an incredibly tough transition to the Pac-12, where Utah stayed competitive, Whittingham has been a constant in a sea of never-ending change for the Utes.

"He’s just all business. There’s never room for slack. He’s checking anybody," senior offensive lineman Lo Falemaka said Monday. "If anybody slips up — coaches, members of the staff, you can be old, young — he’s always getting after you. I feel like his mentality and his personality is what helps everybody stay on track."

Entering the season, Utah had the 10th hardest preseason strength of schedule in the country, according to Phil Steele (ESPN gave Utah the 19th hardest preseason SOS.) The Utes were projected to face three teams in the Top 25 and 10 teams projected to make a bowl game. Utah also had to play the top four teams in the North, missing out on so-called “easy win” opponents in Cal and Oregon State.

With the regular season drawing to a conclusion, Utah has faced an FCS team that is ranked No. 2 in their respective playoffs and six teams guaranteed a bowl game; Utah will likely end with seven, given that BYU has already qualified for a bowl, but it could be as high as nine if Arizona and Colorado pick up wins this weekend.

Leading up to Utah’s final game against in-state rival BYU, the Utes have finished with the 17th hardest SOS in the country, according to Sagarin. That’s a harder schedule than every team ahead them in the rankings by a long shot, including the top six teams in the College Football Playoff rankings, other than Penn State, who had the 16th hardest slate.

Even Washington and Washington State had worse strengths of schedules. The Cougars, who boasts a 10-1 record, faced the 60th hardest schedule; and the Huskies, with a 8-3 record, faced the 45th hardest schedule in the country. The two Washington schools will battle it out to represent the North in the Pac-12 Championship game Friday, but neither has had to do it without their starting quarterback and running back to close out the season.

Utah was forced to rely upon a redshirt freshman quarterback whose only minutes came in garbage time early in the season, and its backup running back who had limited reps to win two games to even have a chance at an opportunity to be in a position to claim the South. But Utah persevered and closed out strong with convincing wins over Oregon and Colorado.

Jon Wilner, a reporter for The Mercury News, reasoned Monday that this year’s South champ is likely the best of all other South winners since the conference started. Looking at the past winners’ path to claiming the division title, Wilner found that Utah had the most challenging cross-divisional schedule.

“Seeking context on Utah’s accomplishment, the Hotline examined the paths traveled by the seven previous South winners and found the Utes can credibly claim to have faced the most challenging cross-division schedule,” Wilner wrote.

That’s to say, Utah earned the South title against all odds.

And the credit goes to the front man who puts his team in a position to weather the storms in order to keep Utah competitive each season. Throughout the ups and downs and the once yearly offensive personnel changes, Whittingham has given the university a fighting chance in an ever-changing NCAA.

Still, Whittingham will never be satisfied with the success.

Related topics