Three Positives And Negatives To Utah's 2021 Schedule
Heading into the 2021 season, it appears that Utah and USC are once again on a collision course to see who gets the honor of playing in the Pac-12 title game.
The south division title will run through the LA Coliseum this year as the Utes and Trojans are set to meet on Saturday, Oct. 9 in a game that should have some serious national implications.
Over the past four seasons, the Pac-12 south division title has gone to either Utah or USC.
The Trojans appeared in the conference title game in 2017, taking down Stanford. Since then though, the Pac-12 north division has been on a three-winning streak as Utah fell to Washington and Oregon in 2018 and 2019 respectively before USC was taken down by the Ducks this past season.
While the schedule may reveal mostly sunshine and rainbows, there are a few drawbacks that the Utes most overcome if they want win their first Pac-12 title
Dec 6, 2019; Santa Clara, CA, USA; Utah Utes tight end Brant Kuithe (80) catches a pass against Oregon Ducks safety Brady Breeze (25) during the first half of the Pac-12 Conference championship game at Levi's Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
UTAH'S 2021 SCHEDULE
*Week 1: Thursday, Sept. 2 vs. Weber State
*Week 2: Saturday, Sept. 11 @ BYU
*Week 3: Saturday, Sept. 18 @ San Diego State
*Week 4: Saturday, Sept. 25 vs. Washington State
*Week 5: BYE
*Week 6: Saturday, Oct. 9 @ USC
*Week 7: Saturday, Oct. 16 vs. Arizona State
*Week 8: Saturday, Oct. 23 @ Oregon State
*Week 9: Saturday, Oct. 30 vs. UCLA
*Week 10: Friday, Nov. 5 @ Stanford
*Week 11: Saturday, Nov. 13 @ Arizona
*Week 12: Saturday, Nov. 20 vs. Oregon
*Week 13: Friday, Nov. 26 vs. Colorado
Here are positives and negatives to the season schedule...
POSITIVES
1.) Home/Away Games
It's not so much in the number of home and away games — there's six each — but it's in the opponents where Utah appeared to be in the good graces of the conference.
Utah lucked out by getting Pac-12 south division teams Arizona State, UCLA and Colorado all at home. They combined to finish in spots 3-5 in the south standings and are all potential candidates to take the next step forward this upcoming season.
It's topped off by the home game against Oregon, widely considered the top team in the conference, in the second to last week of the season.
Altogether, it's arguably the best situation the Utes could've asked for.
2.) 'Bye Week' Before USC
The highlight of the Pac-12 south division season will be the game between the Utes and Trojans on Oct. 9 at the LA Coliseum, a game that will not only have south division implications but national ones as well since both teams should begin the season ranked in the top-25.
Despite USC having home field advantage, Utah will enter with a more significant advantage.
The Utes will be playing coming of a bye week, giving them 14 days to prepare for one of their biggest showdowns of the season. Likewise the Trojans will be in Colorado facing the Buffaloes the week prior, a game that is sure to be no stranger to physicality.
“I would say yeah, not only for that reason but when you look at fall camp, and the season combined, week four is right about midway,” Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham told the Pac-12 Network when asked if the bye week is an advantage this season. “It’s not midway through the season, obviously but when you combine two-a-days, and the grind that it is gives them a nice break right about the midpoint. Then of course, it’s always great to have a little extra time to prepare for the Trojans.”
Nov 21, 2020; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes linebacker Nephi Sewell (29) picks up the fumble and runs to the end zone against the USC Trojans at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
3.) Ending Season With Two Home Games
Utah will end the season with back-to-back home games against Oregon and Colorado. While the opponents may be difficult, the Utes will be playing both games at home.
With fans expected to be in attendance this season, playing the final two games of the year at home will provide a huge boost to the team from a mental and emotional standpoint. Also, two weeks of not traveling is one way to allow the players to heal up as much as possible throughout the end of the season.
Utah's struggles have in the month of November/December have been well documented over the past few seasons — so getting the opportunity to finish with two games at home should give this team all the momentum they need to finish strong.
“You always know who you’re going to play. You just don’t know in what order and, of course, what days. There’s a couple of non-Saturday games in there,” Whittingham said. “When you look at it, it’s pretty much laid out as we expected. We typically play USC early in the season — same thing this year. We’ve got Oregon late in the year at our place, which could be affected by weather. Of course, we always finish with Colorado at the end. So not a lot of surprises. It looks solid. We’ll see what happens.”
Dec 12, 2020; Boulder, Colorado, USA; Colorado Buffaloes players line up against Utah Utes players in the first quarter at Folsom Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sportsffd
NEGATIVES
1.) Nonconference Road Games
Typically a Power 5 team will play 3-4 non conference games during the regular season. More often than not, those games will be played at the home of the Power 5 team when it involves a Group of 5 team or FCS squad.
Utah is about to be the anomaly this season when it travels to Provo to play hated rival BYU on Sept. 11, before hitting the road the following weekend to play at San Diego State, a Group of 5 team.
Despite Utah being an expected favorite, the idea of going on the road for back-to-back games against opponents of that caliber is unheard of — and Utah fans can thank the former athletic director for making that schedule.
2.) Arizona State 'Trap' Game
While the game against USC has been extremely well-documented, the game against the Sun Devils the following week has the look of a classic 'trap' game.
Arizona State is no slouch and could very well challenge Utah and USC as a darkhorse contender for south supremacy. But if the Utes were to take down the Trojans the week prior, the game against the Sun Devils becomes ever more important.
It's a bonus of having the game at home but apart from Oregon, scheduling Arizona State the week after the showdown in So Cal is just plain mean.
Oct 19, 2019; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Utes wide receiver Jaylen Dixon (25) leaps over Arizona State Sun Devils defensive back Chase Lucas (24) to score on a touchdown run in the second quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
3.) Early 'Bye' Week
Utah's bye week is sort of a double-edged sword.
On one hand, having a bye week prior to the matchup with USC is a huge advantage. It allows the Utes to get healthy and dedicate two weeks of practice and game planning to their south division rivals.
“When you look at fall camp, and the season combined, that at Week 4 is about midway,” Whittingham said. “It’s not midway of the season, obviously, but when you combine two-a-days and the grind that that is, that gives them a nice break right at about the midpoint. It’s always great to have a little extra time to prepare for the Trojans.”
On the other end though, having a bye week so early in the season is a little rough as Utah will then finish out the year with eight consecutive weeks of games. That's no break and extra recovery time if needed.
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