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Utah comes in at No. 20 in Amway Coaches preseason poll

Despite losing nearly two-thirds of its overall production for the entire team, Utah will enter next season in the top-20 of the country after being ranked No. 20 in the Amway Coaches preseason poll

How does a team who loses as much as Utah does, still enter the next season as one of the top 25 teams in the nation?

It's a testament to Utah head coach Kyle Whittingham and the culture he has built within the program over the last decade and a half. Ever since Utah joined the Pac-12 in 2011, the Utes have fought tooth and nail to become one of the premier programs in the conference and this preseason ranking proves just how far they've come.

According to the Amway Coaches preseason poll, Utah will enter the season ranked No. 20 in the nation — the Utes began last season No. 15 and ended up No. 16.

It's a really solid ranking for the Utes considering everything they've lost and must now replace this upcoming season, especially with very little time to prepare considering the COVID-19 pandemic shutting down spring and summer workouts.

Utah needs to replace nine defensive starters, six of whom were drafted, and record-setting offensive players in quarterback Tyler Huntley and running back Zack Moss.

However, it does have pieces in place that can make the team successful.

The Utes return defensive end Mika Tafua, who after a breakout sophomore season is poised to be their next great defensive lineman. He's joined by Devin Lloyd and Stanford transfer Sione Lund as the anchors in Utah's linebacking corps.

The offense is expected to get a big boost from the return of Britain Covey, while Brant Kuithe is poised to become one of the best tight ends in the nation. If Cam Rising or grad transfer Jake Bentley can stabilize the quarterback position, the Utes could be in great shape on offense considering the wide receivers and the offensive line are the units with the most returners and depth.

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One player isn't expected to take over for Moss as it should be a committee approach led by Devin Brumfield, Jordan Wilmore and TJ Green for the lead in carries. With the uncertainty that comes with the running back position, this might be the year that Utah is best suited to throw the ball even more — especially with a young defense that will experience growing pains and cause the team to outgun opponents to win.

This will be fascinating to watch to see if offensive coordinator Andy Ludwig puts faith into whoever is throwing the ball — especially to Kuithe — and dictates from his usual demeanor to go with an offense that is close to a 50-50 run-pass play call.

Utah's most pressing matter comes within the secondary, and how they'll replace all FIVE starters from the secondary as corners Jaylon Johnson, Javelin Guidry and Josh Nurse and safeties Julian Blackmon and Terrell Burgess all find themselves preparing to play on Sunday's.

There are without a doubt going to be some growing pains as the Utes must find themselves a new alpha dog in the secondary, a lockdown corner who isn't afraid to match up with the best the Pac-12 has to offer. While there a few a candidates already on the roster, the most intriguing by far is four-star freshman cornerback Clark Phillips III, one of the highest-rated high schoolers to sign with Utah.

Phillips

There have already been whispers that Phillips is that guy, with the mentality and entire skillset to thrive as a freshman and more — but how he does jumping in against Pac-12 competition right away will remain to be seen. Either way, replacing the entire secondary is the biggest question of Utah's defense heading into the new season.

If the Utes are going to live up to the lofty preseason expectations, it's going to have to happen against the toughest second half of the schedule of any Pac-12 team.

Three of the five games are home but playing the top three teams in the North division and the top two teams in the South division over that time period is no easy feat, especially when you throw in a Friday night game and no BYE week.

It begins with an away game at Arizona State, a sneaky opponent — as the conference learned last year with Oregon that playing down in Tempe in November is a scary thing.

That's followed by a home game against Washington, a team that has become a sort of rival with the Utes over the past couple of seasons. Two weeks later is a Friday night home game against USC, a game deep into November with the cold, something Utah fans have been wanting for a long time. That game could go a long into determining who represents the South division in the conference title game.

Sandwiched between those two contests is massive trap game, and one Utah has to be very focused on — a road trip to Cal. Justin Wilcox has Cal playing much better as of late, with the return of a talented defense and a a healthy starting quarterback, don't be surprised if the Bears make that contest very interesting.

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Finally, it's the Pac-12 championship rematch to end the year against Oregon, a team who has a legit shot at the College Football Playoff this season. Utah will be highly motivated for that contest, especially after what happened last year in December — but it'll be interesting to see what the Utes have in the tank at that point following this brutal gauntlet of games.

In the end, if the Utes can survive the opening two weeks, there's no reason to suggest they won't be 5-0 heading into the final half of the season — and that's when anything can happen.

Utah is one of three Pac-12 teams in the top-25. Oregon is the highest-ranked team at No. 9 (despite having to replace four offensive lineman and QB Justin Herbert), while USC (Utah's top rival in the south division) checks in at No. 17.

Arizona State (88), Washington (65), Washington State (6), California (5) and Stanford (2) are the other Pac-12 teams receiving votes.

Clemson once again begins the nation No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia and LSU. 

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