3 questions for Utah football going into 2026 season

Coming off an 11-win season, the Utah football program enters the 2026 campaign under first-year head coach Morgan Scalley looking to uphold the winning traditions that have kept the Utes relevant on the national stage over the past two-plus decades.

With so much change to the coaching staff and roster, though, Scalley and company are hardly granted any givens going into the fall.

As spring turns to summer and fall camp still lingers on the horizon, here are three big questions we have about the 2026 Utah team.

What Will The O-Line Look Like?

Because Utah's success has been predicated on solid offensive line play for the past couple decades, it's reasonable to assume the ability of the 2026 group's to coalesce and gel with one another will play a pivotal role for the Utes offense once again.

The question is: Who will be the five starters protecting Devon Dampier and clearing the way for Utah's tailbacks in the running game? All five starters from an O-line that cleared the way for a program-record 3,462 rushing yards and 41 rushing touchdowns in 2025 have departed, including first-round NFL draft picks Spencer Fano and Caleb Lomu. Not to mention, longtime offensive line coach Jim Harding followed Kyle Whittingham to Michigan.

Utah returned a few veterans with backup experience, like Alex Harrison, Keith Olson and Zereoue Williams, and brought in the highest-rated recruit in program history — Kelvin Obot — to replenish some of its O-line losses. However, those players don't have much experience starting at the Division I level — nor have they played alongside each other.

So, not only is the starting five a question mark; how the newcomers and returners perform is another. Time will eventually reveal answers to both questions.

How Deep Is The Cornerback Room?

Even by cornerbacks coach Sharrieff Shah's own admission, the Utes lost more defensive back depth to the portal than they were anticipating going into the offseason. Smith Snowden (Michigan), Don Saunders (Purdue), LaTristian Thompson (UTEP), Jaylen Moson (South Alabama) and Jason Stokes Jr. (Colorado) have left the cornerback room, and starting Tao Johnson (UCLA) has found a new home, too.

Utah brought back redshirt senior Elijah "Scooby" Davis, redshirt junior JC Hart and redshirt senior Rock Caldwell from the 2025 squad, but will have to integrate newcomers Nick Brown (Lamar transfer), James Chenault (USF transfer), Elijah Reed (Akron transfer) and Earl Parker (junior college signee) into the fold.

The Utes were among the Big 12's best defenses against the pass last season, and the secondary played a major role in forming that identity. If similiar results are to be had in 2026, it'll be because at least a couple of newcomers stepped up in a big way for Shah and company.

How Favorable Is The Schedule?

Answering this question requires an examinition of what exactly "favorable" means.

If it's defined by the number of winnable games on a given slate, then yes, the Utes' 2026 schedule does appear favorable. Utah faces four teams ranked inside the top-40 of ESPN SP+'s rankings (No. 36 Houston, No. 34 TCU, No. 30 Arizona and No. 18 BYU) and has to make just one trip to the East Coast Time Zone during Big 12 play (at Cincinnati, Oct. 31). Also, it starts the season with three straight home games (Idaho, Arkansas and Utah State).

However, if "favorable" is supposed to be taken as "how beneficial a schedule is toward making the College Football Playoff," then it's hard to say whether Utah's schedule is "favorable." The lack of marquee games wouldn't help put the Utes in a conversation to earn an at-large bid into the 12-team postseason, barring an unforeseen rise from a Big 12 team like Kansas, West Virginia or Colorado, for example, which would bolster Utah's résumé in theory.

That being said, Utah will have to capitalize on its opportunity to beat a College Football Playoff contender like BYU and take care of business elsewhere if it wants a shot at playing for more than just the Big 12 title game in December.

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