Utah Football Game Preview: No. 7 Utah Utes vs Florida Gators

Heading into the first game of the season, the No. 7 Utah Utes will have their hands full against the Florida Gators on the road.

Following one of the most impressive seasons of Utah Football in 2021, the Utes will pick up right where they left off as they travel down to Gainesville for a meeting with Florida in the swamplands of the SEC. Despite a disappointing and underwhelming 6-7 2021 record for the Gators, Florida will be a real challenge for the No. 7 Utes in week one.

How to watch

When: Saturday, Sept. 3

Time: 7 p.m. ET

TV: ESPN

Streaming: ESPN.com/watch

Scoop on the Utes

Rank: No. 7 AP

2021 Record: 10-4 (8-1 Pac-12), L vs. Ohio State 48-45

Despite finishing their 2021 campaign with a loss in the Rose Bowl to Ohio State, the Utes are still the reigning Pac-12 Champions and returned a vast majority of their offensive and defensive weapons. Given what they were able to do last year and how they're essentially the same team with more experience, Utah is a dark horse contender for the College Football Playoff and will begin the season ranked in the top 10.

Offensively, the Utes return junior quarterback and team leader Cameron Rising, an explosive running back in Tavion Thomas and two of the best tight ends in the country in Brant Kuithe and Dalton Kincaid among others.

Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) grabs a bad snap and looks to hand off to running back Tavion Thomas (9) in the first quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium / Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Looking back at last year, Cameron Rising was simply excellent for Utah. In 13 appearances with 11 starts, Rising went 204-320 (63%) for 2,493 yards (210 yard average in those 11 starts), 20 TD's (16 passing touchdowns in those 11 starts) and just 5 interceptions. Notably, Utah was also 9-2 with Rising at the helm, only losing to Oregon State and eventually Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

As for Thomas, he led the team in rushing with 204 carries for 1,108 yards (5.4 ypc) and 21 touchdowns. For his efforts, Thomas led the Pac-12 in rushing touchdowns and finished third in the FBS. He was also named to the Pac-12 All-Conference first-team.

Clark Phillips III, Utah Utes Fall Camp / Courtesy of Utah Athletics

Defensively, despite losing notable upperclassmen such as Devin Lloyd, Nephi Sewell, Vonte Davis, and Mika Tafua among others, Utah's defense has come along way since the spring, reloading at all their vacant positions and presenting a nasty secondary with everyone at 100%. 

With notable returners such as Clark Phillips III, JT Broughton, Van Fillinger, Junior Tafuna and Cole Bishop, Utah's defense is just as good as last season, if not better.

Utes to watch

The offensive line and running backs

According to head coach Kyle Whittingham, Florida's defensive line is a notable position group and one to keep an eye on going into the matchup. With that being said, not only will the Utah offensive line need to do a good job protecting Rising, but they'll need to be in sync and create gaps for the running backs. If those two position groups can be on top of their game early on, Florida will have a really tough time stopping Utah's high powered offense.

Defensive line and linebackers

Florida quarterback Anthony Richardson is very talented dual-threat that can burn you in just about any situation. While Utah shouldn't have an issue defending against the pass with their stacked secondary, there's some new faces and inexperience amongst the line and linebackers. If they can do a good job at containing Richardson, he's going to have a really tough time picking apart Utah through the air.

Whittingham on Florida QB Anthony Richardson: "The guy reportedly has 4-3 speed..that's incredible. Its Cam Newton type of numbers with his stature & his ability to run...guy's a dual threat in every sense of the word...so you truly have to to be able to defend everything."

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 29, 2022

Hear it from Coach Whitt

"Okay seasons here. Looking forward to the trip down to Gainesville, be a great opportunity for our football team. Florida is a really talented team, got a lot of really good players, fast, athletic. The big challenge for us is going to take our best effort to go down and try to get the win. [Florida's] Quarterback is outstanding. I mean, there's not a lot of big body of work but some people are projecting him as a top ten pick this coming draft and so he's obviously got a ton of ability. Big kid, you know, six-four, 240 pounds and really fast so he's gonna be a handful for us, but our guys have worked hard through fall camp. Even back, starting at the beginning of the year back in January has been solid work ethic ever, all through the phases. Came out of fall camp really healthy, which is a big plus. We didn't have much live work in fall camp relative to other years. It was a lot like 2019 when we had a very veteran team coming in, we didn't do a lot of live work and that was the same approach this year. And consequently, we came out to, you know, in good shape so, so we'll find out where we are at 7 pm on Saturday evening," Whittingham said.

Read the full Florida game week press conference here.

Scoop on the Gators

Rank: N/A

2021 Record: 6-7 (2-6 SEC), L vs. UCF 29-17

To say the 2021 season was vastly disappointing for the Florida Gators would be an understatement as they finished below .500 and recorded their worst season since 2017. However, while the team is trying to figure things out and have a new coaching staff in charge, this is still an SEC opponent with home-field advantage who is focused on dethroning the Pac-12 Champions.

Offensively, quarterback Anthony Richardson is dangerous dual-threat quarterback who has come a long way since last season and has an arsenal of tall wide receivers at his disposal. Additionally, with a solid up-and-coming running back in Montrell Johnson, who followed head coach Billy Napier, Florida's offense is versatile and dangerous.

Florida Gators quarterback Anthony Richardson (15) lofts a pass to a wide receiver the fourth quarter. Blue beat Orange 34-0 as the Florida Gators scrimmaged themselves during the annual Orange and Blue Game / Doug Engle-USA TODAY NETWORK

As for the defense, in addition to a solid secondary, the Gators defensive line was mentioned by head coach Kyle Whittingham as a strong unit and will be a challenge for the Utes to deal with right off the bat.

Gators to watch

Anthony Richardson

At 6-foot-4, 232 pounds, Richardson is a dangerous dual-threat quarterback who can hurt you in a plethora of ways. Last season, Richardson completed 59.4% of his passes and recorded 930 total yards of offense, including 401 rushing and 529 passing. 

Richardson then built on last season with a great spring game performance, finishing 18-25 for 207 yards passing and two touchdowns. He also found the end zone with his legs on a 12-yard touchdown run.

Overall, Richardson is the biggest threat for this Florida football team. If he's not contained, Utah could struggle to walk away from the swamp with a victory.

Defensive Line

Just as Whittingham said, Florida's defensive line is talented and will be a focus for them to deal with on Saturday. With several lineman returning such as junior Gervon Dexter, Jalen Lee and Princely Umanmielen, alongside some talented freshmen, the Utes will have their hands full.

When asked about which group is the most talented for the Gators, Whittingham said there aren't many weaknesses but then singled out the wide receivers, RB transfer and their defensive line as being very talented. #GoUtes

— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) August 29, 2022

If Utah can control the line of scrimmage, the offense should be let loose and the Utes might even walk away with a comfortable victory. However, given that its week one, this will likely be a challenge no matter how prepared Utah is.

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