TCU Football Week 8 Opponent Preview: Utah Utes

TCU comes off a bye week to play one of its toughest opponents this season, the Utah Utes. What can you expect from Utah this Saturday?

Oct 21, 2023; Los Angeles, California, USA; Utah Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham celebrates after the game against the Southern California Trojans at United Airlines Field at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Coming off a bye week, the TCU Horned Frogs (3-3, 1-2 Big 12) visit one of college football's most daunting environments to play the Utah Utes (4-2, 1-2). Utah lost its starting quarterback for the season, but the Utes thrive on excellent coaching, a tough defense, and dragging opponents down into a rock fight. This Saturday night, under the dark skies of Rice-Eccles Stadium, TCU is in for one of its toughest and most physical games of the season.

TCU at Utah kicks off Saturday, Oct. 19, at 9:30 p.m. CT, from Rice -Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City. Catch the game on ESPN or on the radio at 92.5 FM KZPS.

Utah vs. TCU Series History

Nov 6, 2010; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; FILE PHOTO: TCU Horned Frogs quarterback Andy Dalton (14) looks to throw against the Utah Utes at Rice Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Brouillet-Imagn Images / Peter Brouillet-Imagn Images

Utah owns a 5-3 all-time series lead against TCU, a series that spans two other conferences (now three). The two played in 1996 and 1997 during TCU's brief stint in the WAC, both games won by Utah. After departing the WAC and later on joining the Mountain West, TCU and Utah once again shared a league briefly. The teams split a six-game series, with TCU winning the final two in 2009 and 2010.

Three games in the series (2005, '07, '08) were decided by a single score and three more were decided by 14 points or less (1996, '97, '06). Now returning to the same league in the Big 12, we expect more close games in the series.

Utah Players To Note

Oct 14, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes defensive tackle Junior Tafuna (58) plays against California Golden Bears offensive lineman Matthew Wykoff (74) in the first half at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images / Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Unfortunately, veteran quarterback Cam Rising will again miss the rest of the season with an injury. The seventh-year never seemingly recovered from an ACL tear suffered in the 2022 Rose Bowl, prompting him to miss all of the 2023 season. He saw a few games of action before suffering a cut on his hand that benched him. It's uncertain if the hand laceration or knee injury prompted the shutdown.

Isaac Wilson, brother of former BYU QB Zach, likely starts the rest of the way. In three starts, Wilson threw for 722 yards, five touchdowns, and five interceptions (55.7% completion on the year). He did start for the Utes' win at Oklahoma State–at the time a big, ranked win–but otherwise was beaten by Arizona two weeks ago.

Defense is where Utah makes its money. Defensive tackle Junior Tafuna is the latest in a long line of all-conference players at the position. Runningmate Keanu Tanuvasa might make a push at All-Big 12 this year, already picking up four QB hits and a sack from defensive tackle.

Corner Cameron Calhoun is the highest-graded defensive player at Pro Football Focus this season. Calhoun stepped in for senior Kenan Johnson, who suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. Since then, he's allowed just 6-of-16 targets to be caught and intercepted a pass while in coverage.

Sizing Up The Utes

Utah's Isaac Wilson (11) looks to throw a pass in the second half of the college football between the Oklahoma State University Cowboys and the Utah Utes at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Okla., Saturday, Sept., 21, 2024. / SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

With Rising supposed to return to the lineup this year, we thought we'd see a return to Utah's 2021 and 2022 form, scoring 35+ regularly and holding opponents under 20 points. But even with Rising in the lineup, Utah scored 23 points against Baylor and 19 against Arizona State; without him, 22 and 10 points.

The offense revolves around the running the football with Micah Bernard (680 yards, 2 TDs). Bernard ranks fourth in the Big 12 in rushing yards and tied for fourth at 6.5 yards per carry (min. 30 carries). They're an offense happy to line up and get four yards on first down, three yards on second down, and roll the dice with a 3rd & 3. Given the size of the offensive line–a unit where all five starters check in at 6-4, 300 pounds or larger–it's a fine strategy.

While Utah has the guys on defense, the production hasn't quite been there, particularly in the pass rush. Tafuna beats his blocks less than 9% of the time and Tanuvasa, less than 5%. Even edge rushers (who generally have a higher pass rush win rate), anyone with 100 or more pass rush snaps beat their block fewer than 10% of the time.

It's a real issue that's resulted in the 99th-ranked sack rate for the Utes (4.4%), far below last year's 25th-ranked unit (7.9%).

Fortunately, the coverage has been so good from the secondary that opposing quarterbacks average the 18th-worst passer rating against Utah. Particularly on the road–Rice-Eccles Stadium is one of the most daunting environments in college football, less the Big 12–this game will be a tough one for Josh Hoover.

Utah coach Kyle Whittingham doesn't get his flowers enough. Over 20 years, Whittingham has done nothing but win (career .672 win percent), no matter the personnel. We saw it last season, finishing the regular season 8-4 despite a scoring offense ranked 88th without Rising. So just because Utah doesn't have its starting QB out there Saturday, don't underestimate the Utes' ability to muck a game up and win.

Opponent Rundown

Team: Utah Utes

Record: 4-2 (1-2 Big 12)

Coach: Kyle Whittingham (20th year here)

Scoring Offense: 22.4 points per game (90th)

Scoring Defense: 20.4 points allowed per game (26th)

Utah 2024 Schedule

Date	Opponent	Result
Aug. 29 (Thur.)	Southern Utah (FCS)	W, 49-0
Sept. 7	Baylor*	W, 23-12
Sept. 14	at Utah State	W, 38-21
Sept. 21	at #14 Oklahoma State	W, 22-19
Sept. 28	Arizona	L, 23-10
Oct. 5	BYE
Oct. 12	at Arizona State	L, 27-19
Oct. 19	TCU	9:30 p.m. CT
Oct. 26	at Houston
Nov. 2	BYE
Nov. 9	#13 BYU
Nov. 16	at Colorado
Nov. 23	#19 Iowa State
Nov. 29 (Fri.)	at UCF	7:00 p.m. CT

*Utah's Week 2 game vs. Baylor did not count toward Big 12 standings. It was the second of a non-conference home-and-home scheduled before conference realignment.

TCU at Utah Game Info

• When: Saturday, Oct. 19, 9:30 p.m. CT
• Where: Rice-Eccles Stadium (Salt Lake City, UT)
• TV: ESPN

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