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SALT LAKE CITY — As the Utes have witnessed in their first two seasons in the Pac-12, wins are a lot harder to come by.
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In fact, the difference between just one win and a loss could be enough to either send your team to a bowl game or be sitting around in December watching all the games from home.
Here are three games that the Utes need to win in order to achieve their team goal of returning to a bowl game in 2013:
1) Home v. Utah State on August 29th
The number one game has to be the number one game of the season versus the Utah State Aggies. The last few years Utah has not gotten off to great starts against the week one opponents.
Most of the time the Utes will open with an FCS team - but there is no time for a warmup this season. Utah State and Chuckie Keeton come to Rice-Eccles on August 29th.
Last season the Aggies got the better of Utah - it hurts to say it, but they did. It was a game that was nationally televised and in Logan. The Utes quarterback was still oft-injured (Jordan Wynn) and of course got knocked out of the game, and eventually his playing career ended.
Make no mistake Utah fans, this is a swing game to get off to a good start to the 2013 season. The Utes goal to get to a bowl game will largely depend on the first five games of the season.
Late last week, college football guru Phil Steele released his toughest schedule list and the Utes rank 12th.
Getting off to a good start cannot be understated. We believe week one is a must win, and we think the Utes do too.
2) Home v. Oregon State on September 14th
The number two swing game is week three against Oregon State.
In its first two years in the Pac-12 conference, Utah has started 0-4. That will not cut it in 2013. The Utes first chance to start the conference season out right is at home in week three.
Oregon State jumped out to a 6-0 start in 2012 before eventually finishing 9-4. Oregon State beat Utah last season in Corvallis with the Utes having made a number of mistakes, especially in the red zone and not getting the ball into the end zone.
The Utes need to start showing some signs of improvement - and we will look for that this season, even with the tough schedule. One way to do that is to start winning your conference home games - all of them. We realize that the Utes also host UCLA, Stanford, and Arizona State and winning all of those will be extremely difficult.
But Oregon State is that first shot.
Utah needs to get that game to build some confidence.
3) Home v. Arizona State on November 9th
While the Utes have at least been competitive in most of the conference matchups since joining the Pac-12 in 2011, one team clearly has had the Utes' number.
In the two contests as Pac-12 South division foes, the Arizona State Sun Devils have throttled the Utes by a combined 72-21, including a 37-7 victory in Tempe last season.
Sandwiched between four road games - two of which are against USC and Oregon, Utah's week 10 (9th game of season) home showdown with Arizona State could be the difference between the Utes going to a bowl game and sitting home in December for the second straight season.
Will the Utes finally be able to extinguish the Sun Devils' explosive offense?
How will the Utes offense fare with new co-offensive coordinator Dennis Erickson, who used to be the head man for Arizona State from 2007-2011?
A win against Arizona State could provide the team enough momentum close out the season on a high note. A loss here would make the road back to a bowl game much more difficult.
