Utah Utes Drop to No. 18 in AP Poll; CFP to Match?
Dropping their second game of the season to the Oregon Ducks wasn't at all in the Utah Utes' plans heading into a home matchup in Week 9.
In a perfect world, the Ducks entered Rice-Eccles stadium and finally met their offensive match. Utah would find success behind Bryson Barnes and it would escape with a 7-1 record and a strong case for CFP contention.
Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. After the Ducks gave up a fumble to allow the Utes to kick a field goal and come within four points early in the first half, they rallied and never looked back. Final score 35-6. A blowout on College GameDay.
The Utes might have lost to a bona-fide top-10 team in Oregon, but that didn't stop the AP poll from hitting them hard in the latest iteration of the top-25 standings.
Oct 28, 2023; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Bryson Barnes (16) steps out of the pocket against the Oregon Ducks during the first half at Rice-Eccles Stadium.
© Christopher Creveling-USA TODAY Sports
The Ducks saw their way up two spots to No. 6, putting them in a favorable spot with four more games to play, while Utah tied Oregon State for the biggest faller, moving down to No. 18 and all-but officially ending their championship aspirations.
But while the latter might be true based on history — no two-loss team has ever made the playoff — coach Kyle Whittingham remains confident in his team.
"In adversity and tough times like this, we build character," the veteran coach said. "I believe we've got a lot of character in our locker room. A lot of guys that are very prideful. We'll come back, respond and work harder this week ... to get back on track."
"If you get beat like that, you don't want to go in and barrage your team," he added. "What happened out there was enough. You've got to still believe in them."
That makes one. If Whittingham is the only person to still believe in his team, that might be all Utah needs, though it certainly doesn't help the sting that comes with a lackluster ranking. And unfortunately for the Utes, another one may be coming Tuesday evening.
The first iteration of the CFP rankings are set to be released starting at 5 p.m. MT, which might be enough on its own for the Utes to know their ceiling for the season.
That ranking might match the one they were just given by the AP voters, but it also might not. They'll just have to wait and see, though one thing is for certain.
Whatever number is put next to Utah's name won't matter. It'll prepare all the same.
Whittingham and his squad next face Arizona State at home, looking for another win to erase the negative momentum that came from their blowout loss just a week prior.
Kickoff from Rice-Eccles stadium is set for noon MT.
