Tag: Utah Utes

Former Oregon edge rusher Jaxson Jones transfers to Utah

Former Oregon Ducks edge rusher

Just six days after entering the transfer portal, Jaxson Jones, a former Oregon Duck has found his next school in the Utah Utes. The freshman edge rusher is one of four Ducks to enter the portal this December, and he’s the first to announce his commitment to his new team. Jones announced his commitment via Instagram.

As a 3-star recruit and the No. 7 ranked Arizona player in the class of 2024, Jones garnered interest from schools across the old Pac-12, including the Ducks and the Utes. Before committing to Oregon during his initial recruitment, Jones was committed to Washington for a few months.

Jones only saw the field once in his freshman season at Oregon, taking a defensive line snap against the Maryland Terrapins. Coming to Eugene with Jones was 5-star edge rusher and fellow Arizonan Elijah Rushing who took in-game reps much more often than Jones this season.

Rushing wasn’t the only one beating Jones out for playing time. In a program like Oregon’s, playing consistent snaps as a freshman is an exception rather than the rule. But, since most of the Ducks’ top edge rushers, such as Matayo Uiagalelei, Teitum Tuioti, and Blake Purchase, are expected to return next season, it’s likely Jones would’ve become reacquainted with the bench if he stuck around.

In 2023, the Utah Utes defense was led by elite pass rusher Jonah Eliss, but after Eliss left for the NFL, the Utes were left without an elite pass rusher. Jones is still early in his development, but — with four years of eligibility left — a spot on Utah’s defense gives him a fantastic opportunity to blossom — if that’s what he’s destined for.

Big 12 reprimands, fines Utah AD Mark Harlan $40,000

The Big 12 is going to make Utah AD Mark Harlan pay for his critical comments

If Utah athletic director Mark Harlan was unhappy in the Big 12 after Saturday’s loss to BYU, he must be fuming now.

Harlan went off after the loss to the Cougars, claiming the game was stolen from the Utes (by the officials).

The conference’s a ction:

Harlan offered a response.

Duke football draws former Pac-12 powerhouse in new USA TODAY Sports bowl projections

Ahead of the Week 8 college football schedule, USA TODAY Sports has the Duke Blue Devils penciled in for a bowl battle with Utah.

USA TODAY Sports’ Erick Smith updated his college football bowl projections on Tuesday, and he pitted the Blue Devils against a former heavyweight in the now-decimated Pac-12 Conference.

Smith put Duke in the Holiday Bowl alongside the Utah Utes, now a member of the Big 12.

With head coach Kyle Whittingham at the helm since 2005, Utah won the Pac-12 title game in 2021 and 2022 before joining its new conference. The Utes entered the 2024 season as the Big 12 favorites, but veteran starter Cam Rising continues to deal with injuries as he’s thrown just 66 passes. Utah lost its last two games to Arizona and Arizona State to fall behind the pace.

As has been the case for most of Smith’s projections this season, the Miami Hurricanes and Clemson Tigers are the only ACC teams in his College Football Playoff field. However, instead of rolling with the undefeated Hurricanes, Smith thinks Clemson will storm back to win the conference and clinch the first-round bye.

The North Carolina Tar Heels, now riding a four-game losing streak, were absent from Smith’s projected postseason field.

Utah quarterback Cam Rising is ‘out indefinitely’ per Utes head coach

Isaac Wilson, you’re up.

The injury bug continues to bite seventh-year senior quarterback Cam Rising. He missed the entirety of the 2023 Utah Utes football season after suffering a horrific knee injury in the 2022-23 Rose Bowl against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Now he is once again sidelined after returning from injury.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports posted on X, formerly Twitter, that Utes head coach Kyle Whittingham announced that Rising is out indefinitely. Rising returned to the lineup this past Friday night against the Arizona State Sun Devils. The former Texas quarterback looked like a shell of his former self in the 27-19 loss. Rising never looked comfortable but Whittingham never seemed to entertain the thought of going with freshman backup Isaac Wilson.

Wilson led Utah to wins over Utah State and Oklahoma State since taking over for Rising, who injured his hand in the game against Baylor. Wilson didn’t have the best showing against Arizona, which might be a key reason that they stuck with the veteran quarterback.

Rising threw three interceptions against the Sun Devils and completed just 43.2% of his passes in the loss.

Moving forward it appears to be the Wilson show. Utah will host the TCU Horned Frogs on Saturday night. Kickoff is set for 8:30 p.m. MT in Salt Lake City. If the Utes want to try and climb into the Big 12 race it will need Wilson to play lights out down the stretch.

Duke football draws new opponent in the latest USA TODAY Sports bowl projections

The Blue Devils reached the halfway point of their season on Saturday, see where they fell in the new USA TODAY Sports bowl projections here.

The Duke football team couldn’t clinch its spot in the college football postseason on Saturday, but even with the 24-14 loss to Georgia Tech, first-year head coach [autotag]Manny Diaz[/autotag] and his team still need just one more victory for a bowl berth.

ESPN’s Football Power Index thinks there’s a 96% chance that the Blue Devils pick up that sixth win somewhere down the line, so of course, when USA TODAY Sports writer Erick Smith released his updated bowl projections on Tuesday, Duke needed to be included.

Smith put Diaz and his team playing the Utah Utes in the Holiday Bowl, which is slated for December 27.

The Utes, in their first season as members of the Big 12, began the season as one of the favorites for the conference title. Head coach Kyle Whittingham has led his team to four victories in its first five games, but a 23-10 loss to Arizona in Week 5 seemed like a bad omen. Star quarterback Cam Rising continues to battle injuries as he’s only thrown 29 passes this year.

Smith also included an ACC shakeup at the top of his projections. The undefeated Miami Hurricanes overcame a 35-10 California lead on Saturday, but Smith thinks the Clemson Tigers will eventually win the conference and take the first-round bye.

The Hurricanes still reached the 12-team bracket as one of the at-large selections, but both ACC playoff teams lost in the first round of Smith’s bracket.

Utah the lone top 10 ranked team from the Big 12 in Coaches Poll

The Utah Utes are 10th in the most recent Coaches Poll.

There was not a ton of movement for the Big 12 in the Coaches Poll after Week 2. One Big 12 left the rankings and a new one joined. The Kansas Jayhawks were the lone team from the Big 12 to leave the poll, while the Iowa State Cyclones have moved into the 23rd spot.

The Utah Utes remained the top-ranked Big 12 team in the Coaches Poll, coming in at number ten. They come in just below Penn State and Tennessee, and just ahead of USC and Miami.

Next for the conference is the Oklahoma State Cowboys, who are 14th in the rankings. Kansas State checks in next at the 15th spot. The Arizona Wildcats remained in the top 20 as well, coming in at 18th. They are just ahead of a pair of teams that have lost; Notre Dame and Clemson.

As for the Jayhawks, with their loss to Illinois, they still received votes, but just 10. That put them 11th, which places them at 36th in the country. Central Florida is two spots behind at 38th, while TCU comes in at 40th, and BYU is 46th.

Utah quarterback Cam Rising looks to have avoided disastrous injury

Cameron Rising avoids serious injury in win over Baylor Bears.

There is no doubt the Utah Utes football team goes as Cam Rising goes. The signal-caller was strong early in the win over the Baylor Bears. In fact, Rising anchored the Utes offense to 23 points in the first half of the game.

Late in the second quarter, the signal caller injured his right hand while being shoved into a bank of watercolors. After that, he was seen in street clothes with tape around his fingers.

After the game, head coach Kyle Whittingham talked to the media. The veteran coach had this to say:

Just been told it’s not real serious. You know what I know now. It wasn’t real serious and can’t tell you the exact description of what happened, but he may be back this week. We’ll see.

Rising finished the game 8 of 14 passes for 92 yards and two touchdowns. His two touchdowns went to Money Parks and Micah Bernard.

The 25-year-old is going to continue being a threat to win the 2024 Heisman Trophy.  He comes into the season after not playing at all during the 2023 season. Rising was great in 2022 as his Utes team went 10-3. He finished just 61 yards shy of 3,000, with 25 touchdowns.

Rising was named to the first team All-Pac 12 team in 2021, and was the Pac-12 Championship game MVP in 2022. The Utes came into the game against Baylor ranked 11th in the country. Utah will likely move into the Top 10 with the latest poll.

The Utes are going to get a road game at Utah State on Saturday, before another Big 12 game. The game on September 21st is at Oklahoma State. The Cowboys are another team out of the Big 12 that has a Heisman contender, in Ollie Gordon. Utah then hosts Arizona the final Saturday of September. The Wildcats are another Big 12 contender.

The best Week 2 college football matchups in the Big 12 conference

Highlighting four of the best Big 12 matchups in Week 2 of the college football season.

The page has turned from Week 1 to Week 2 of the college football season. Last week was fun, but this week seemingly can be even more fun.

Some great games on tap, with the Big 12 going toe to toe with several of the other top conferences in college football.

Let’s take a look at the best college football games for Week 2 from the Big 12 conference:

Arkansas Razorbacks at Oklahoma State Cowboys

The Arkansas Razorbacks will come to Stillwater following their 70-0 thrashing over Arkansas Pine-Bluff. Fools gold for the Razorbacks, who are projected no better than the middle of the pack in the tough SEC.

Arkansas running back Ja’Quinden Jackson may pose some problems for the Cowboys’ defense in this one, but he is no Ollie Gordon. This should be the second straight game Gordon is the best player on the field. The stud running back accounted for three of the Cowboys’ touchdowns in the 24-point win over South Dakota State.

This should be an interesting game between two power conference programs, but playing in Stillwater could be the deciding factor.

Iowa State Cyclones at Iowa Hawkeyes

The first team to 20 points wins this one? The Iowa State Cyclones and Iowa Hawkeyes both played a very defensive game last week. Iowa State allowed just a field goal in the win over North Dakota. Iowa allowed no points against Illinois State.

Iowa scored 40 in the game, but for the most part, the offense was not great. Iowa State struggled offensively, scoring just 21 points in the game.

The Hawkeyes won the matchup last season in Ames. There is one thing on the Cyclones’ mind when this game gets going. That is revenge. Fun in the heartland on Saturday.

Baylor Bears at Utah Utes

The first Big 12 conference game of the 2024 season. The Baylor Bears were impressive winners in Week 1. It was a much-needed blowout win against Tarleton State. Now, the work needs to get started, as a big-time underdog on the road.

Utah was really good in Week 1 as well. Cam Rising was strong and looks like he could contend as one of the best quarterbacks in the conference. The game being played in Salt Lake City is a big deal. Despite not being conference mates, these two teams played a season ago in a game the Utes won, 20-13.

Kansas Jayhawks at Illinois Fighting Illini

This game could be the game of the week in college football. Kansas beat up on Illinois a season ago. The fans in Champaign are expecting different this season under head coach Brett Bielema. But, in the end, the Jayhawks should win the talent differentiation.

Jalon Daniels is back and is healthy. Devin Neal is a beast on the offensive side as well, and the Jayhawks defense is ready to fly around. It’s been a long time since Kansas beat a power conference team on the road, outside of the Big 12. That should change Saturday in Champaign.

Utah’s Cam Rising shows no signs of rust in Week 1 blowout win

Cam Rising was great in the Utah Utes season opener on Thursday.

It was a sweet return for Utah Utes quarterback Cam Rising on Thursday night. The signal caller, who is getting attention as a potential Heisman Trophy candidate, was nearly perfect in the blowout win over Southern Utah.

The 7th year quarterback played in his first game since the Rose Bowl in January of 2024. He went 10 of 15 for 245 yards and five touchdowns. He also rushed the football for 25 yards in the game.

The sold-out crowd at Rice-Eccles Stadium saw Utah get ahead 35-0 in the second quarter of the game. Three of Rising’s touchdowns went to tight end Brant Kuithe in the game.

It was the first game for the Utes as members of the Big 12. They picked up a total of 513 yards on offense. It was the first time since a game against Arizona State last season that they picked up 500+ yards.

When asked about how he felt in his return, Rising had this to say:

I just looked out into the kind of stands and took a second to just take it in and breathe, but that feeling kind of goes out of the way once the coin toss really happens, and then you’re just focused on winning the game.

Kyle Wittingham’s Utes will start their Big 12 season next. They will host the Baylor Bears on September 7th. After that, they will play another in-state rivalry game. The Utes are at Utah State on September 14th. Utah then is at Oklahoma State on September 21st and will host Arizona on September 28th.

Utah Utes leads Big 12 with 13 on Senior Bowl watch list

The Utah Utes, who are favorites to win the Big 12, have the most players on the watch list for the 2025 Senior Bowl with 13.

The 2025 Reese’s Senior Bowl watch list was released earlier this week. The senior bowl is one of the best games on the schedule and shows off the best of the best in college football. The game is held in February, just weeks before the NFL Draft.

The Big 12 was represented well, with the Utah Utes leading the way. That makes sense, with Kyle Whittingham and his Utes as the favorites to win the conference title in 2024. Tight end Brant Kuithe, along with receiver Mycah Pittman anchor the way for the Utes. Utah has 13 players on the list.

Second on the list out of the Big 12 is a tie between the Arizona Wildcats, UCF Knights, and Colorado Buffaloes. Those three teams all sit with 11 players.

At the bottom of the list is the BYU Cougars. The Cougars have just two players on the list. They are just below Iowa State and Baylor, who have four.

You can find the entire list of players invited to the Reese’s Senior Bowl 2025 at their official website.